Facebook is failing us. But facebook is the best that we have. Damn. And Twitter is not really a good place to stay in touch.

So if we designed a meetup place online what would we keep and what would we ditch?

Keepers

• Easy posting of multiple types of content
• Easy following and organizing of friends and associates
• Easy customization of our news feed page, how to see the data that’s important to us
• A way to coordinate action and meetups (like groups and events and causes all wrapped into one)
• An easy way to repurpose our lifestream for others to subscribe to

Leavings

• Advertising
• Privacy invasion
• Use of our demographic data to feed marketing
• Owning our content, foreva!

So what can we do? Where can we go?

• Keep using FB
• Use Twitter, Instant Messaging, TXTs, Meetup.com, evite.com
• Start our own blog, posterous page, ning community
• Something else

Alternative community sites

• LinkedIn (expanding beyond business talk)
• Meetup.com (let’s gather)
• WordPress site (your name goes here)
• Flikr (all about the image)
• Pandora.com, blip.fm, last.fm (connecting via musical likes and dislikes)

What do we want to connect?

• Consistant channel for communicating with friends and family
• Checking-in (I’m here now, where are you, come find me here)
• Leaving behind our lifestream of ideas, images, random thoughts, songs, connections with others
• Making friends (friends finding friends of each other and becoming friends)
• This song struck a chord in me, does it remind you of anything
• Dating, or not-dating connections (this is what I’m into, do you like me?)
• Building trust within our circles of influence, sharing that trust with others

My dream of a social future.

The tools are here. Major social platforms like SocialText, Teligent and Jive exist in the for-profit world of enterprise social media, but we need one of them, or possibly an emerging platform to make the tools available to build the next thing. Ning had a shot at it, but had to come to grips with the reality of charging for accounts.

So perhaps someone will cook up the next facebook. Maybe Google’s brain power is going to deliver something of value, since Buzz and Wave were bombs. But I am hoping for a better connection. I’ll use what we’ve got, and I’ll use it as BIG as I can, BUT… we need something better, safer, faster and less ad/marketing driven. Don’t you think?

@jmacofearth

permalink:  https://uber.la/2011/04/lets-meet-up/

Additional posts of interest:

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• The Open Road (Bike) is Paved w/ Logos < why do cyclists dress like billboards?
• Dell’s Social Media Mystique: If They’re So Innovative Then Why… (dell on twitter)
• Let’s Talk About "Commerce" on Facebook, Not Impressions or Branding but SALES
• I DIS-LIKE Facebook Groups (How I learned to love social media, for real)

Reference:

TechCrunch: Nine Ways to Build Your Own Social Network