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January 06, 2007
How not to launch a social network
Quick -- which of these successful social networks was launched with a high-profile media blitz: MySpace, Facebook, YouTube or SecondLife?
The answer: None of them.
That's why Disney's plan to have CEO Robert Iger unveil a revamped Disney.com as a kid-based social network at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday is a bit like taping a kick-me sign to the newest kid in high school.
Disney wants to signal to Wall Street that it gets this new era of participation, so adding social networking is a good sign. But someone in the company mistakenly believes that using a movie marketing model -- open big! -- is the right way to launch something whose early days are terribly fragile. When Iger told the Wall Street Journal that the revamp is "the single most important companywide strategy Disney is currently implementing," then the Richter Scale of public scrutiny is automatically configured for maximum damage.
A new social network practically requires a cloak of invisibility to build the support of influential early adopters. Social network architects need the first few precious months of existence to make numerous minor or major changes to the system without the harsh glare of the media and company executives. Program managers need a small but vocal army of member-evangelists who make the place comfy enough to call it their home and defend it from the inevitable critics and interlopers.
Give the media and Wall Street a VIP tour after the evangelists and their essential word of mouth are already in place. To launch and promote a social network using the tired tools of announcements and press releases is to not understand their people-are-the-message subtext.
Update: In the comments, Joe says: "The likelihood of success seems inversely proportional to the size of the marketing budget." True, true.
Other blogs that reference How not to launch a social network:
» When kids are the target from Community Guy
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» The likelihood of success... from CCUCEO
seems inversely proportional to the size of the marketing budget. Let's repeat that. It's such a good truism: The likelihood of success seems inversely proportional to the size of the marketing budget. Joe Suh, from MyChurch, left the truism as [Read More]
The likelihood of success seems inversely proportional to the size of the marketing budget. Or at least the size of the brand that is launching it.
Walmart failed. Lets see how Disney and Toyota do...
Love that! Just add "launching the social network" to the end of your first sentence, Joe, and you have a pretty reliable paradox.
I find it puzzling how so many of the big boys believe they can manufacture social media. There's a reason organic food costs so much more and taste so much better (IMHO, anyway) than the lab-grown stuff - time, demand, and authenticity.
I suppose the same can be said for social networks.
Hmm... generally I'd agree with you, but in this case I'm going to have to disagree with you. I'm not entirely sure what the target age range for the Disney site is, but my guess is that it's 5-12, with a sweet spot of 6-10. As such, the Internet usage habits are radically different for this group than for MySpace, Facebook, Second Life, and YouTube. A key audience that young is realistically not able to get onto a site in the first place without some input from mom and dad. Since we know that not everyone is the savvy social media enthusiasts that we are, we have to assume that they're going to lack core knowledge of the site's existence. Yes, more and more kids of a younger and younger age are connecting to each other through the online space, but at 6 or 7 they are more likely to a restricted the potential of word of mouth. So traditional advertising methods become crucial to alert mom and dad that such a thing even exists.
Now, couple that with the world reality that for most parents today, "social network" is equated to all those stories about predators and MySpace. In order to have any amount of success, Disney is going to have to use more traditional methods to ensure that parents understand that Disney.com doesn't equate to MySpace.
Now, all that aside, I DO hope Disney is taking a larger look at how they may be able to put non-traditional means to work.
Heya Jake... I'm sure Disney could use the full might of its powerful marketing machinery any time it chooses to get the word out about the social networking aspects of its revamped site.
Whether its tweens, teens or adults, the early success of a social network is still based on word of mouth of its early adopters. Launching a social network out of the gate at a high-profile event like CES is like when Gary Hart challenged the media to investigate rumors of his extramarital activities...
Of course they found the flaws.
Again, completely agree with you about tweens, teens, adults. But not for kids. Kids are a different beast when it comes to this stuff.
Do you know for sure what the target is for this new site? (I can't get to the article)
But do I understand you correctly that you disagree that 6-10 year olds should be considered the same as tweens+ when considering how to build social networks?
What worked for ''teen/adult'' network might be different for a kid oriented community.
I think it would work, because the crictical mass of users can be reached not with influential early adopters, as you stated, but with the kids that already love Disney's brand. The social network will enable them to participate in an environement they're familiar with (Disney characters).
Whether it's for kids, tweens, teens, or anyone after that, I could never imagine doing anything other than a soft launch of a social network.
Besides, Disney's network is among the top 10 of all visited websites. They needn't worry about getting enough people in the door for their new initiative :)
Have any of you played Disneys Virtual Magic Kingdom? That is certainly a form of social networking for the tween set. My 8 and 10 year old kids LOVE it. They have "friends" that they add - some they really know and some they don't. The Disney staff does an amazing job moderating - we have witnessed it first hand. (http://video-game-tips.blogspot.com/2006/09/vmk-moderators-do-their-job.html)
I think Disney has certainly laid the ground work and has the base to do a social network for tweens.
