据美国《连线》杂志的一篇文章,指出了Twitter,Facebook,LinkedIn这些社交网站之
间的界限正在越来越模糊,它们互相抄袭,试图把各自网站都变成一站式社交网络,以
满足用户所有的社交需要,这些改进的措施不但没有福利到用户,反而为用户带来了更
多的困扰。
以下为文章概要:
社交网络很难被驾驭。在Twitter上,很容易就可以把雅致的自我宣传变成粗鲁的吹牛
。在Facebook上,尝试一个网络笑话说不定会引发家族世仇。对于门外汉——甚至是经
验丰富的用户——要想真正找到属于自己的方式来玩转这些社交服务也犹如梦魇一般难。
尤其是这些社交网络背后的那些公司正在把这些社交服务"改善"的越来越难用。他们渐
渐在模糊各自的那条"线"——相互抄袭。最新的例子:据科技博客Mashable报道,
Twitter正在尝试重新设计网站界面,新设计让它看起来真的很像Facebook。Twitter希
望自己不仅是一个消息流或者其它的公众信息,而是试图加强并突出其私人信息工具。
与此同时,Facebook却希望自己不仅处理是在熟人圈(家人和朋友)之间的联系和交流。
他们还希望自己有大量的新闻流。近年来,Facebook已经演变得越来越像Twitter了。
还有就是作为专业的职业社交网络LinkedIn,现在的新功能居然能够分享照片,视频,
链接以及个人的想法——变得越来越像Twitter和Facebook。
换句话说,现在所有的社交网络巨头都在努力将自己变成一站式的社交服务,以满足用
户的所有在线社交需求。
问题是:人们真的不希望使用"一站式"方式来玩这些社交服务。在Facebook成立的10年
间,它已经经历了一次又一次的失败——为不同的受众发布不一样的信息流。Facebook
甚至已经开发出巧妙的技术把联系人按照"亲密的朋友","家人","同事"和熟人标签等
分类,但据《连线》杂志的专栏作家认为,很少有人真正使用这些标签分类。
Twitter很早就创造出一种隐私信息流,可以把较为隐私的消息给特定的人看,但用户
通常会忽略这一点。所以Twitter最有效,最明显的优势是把信息流给整个世界看。
现实世界的证据,虽然不同的用户喜欢用不同的方式来玩社交媒体,但他们喜欢每个社
交服务都有自己独特的优势,而不是相互抄袭。他们很少因为要不停的转换、登陆不同
类别的社交服务而抱怨。相反,他们觉得现有的社交媒体仍需要改进(而不是扩充更多
的服务),尤其是在保护隐私方面。
华尔街希望Twitter的增长更为迅速,但Twitter的股价却在明显的下跌。Twitter不应
该增加其它服务(例如像Facebook那样强调私人消息),因为如果该网站使自己变成了
Facebook,我们没必要使用Twitter。
Twitter and Facebook Must Stop Copying Each Other
Social networks are hard to navigate. On Twitter, it’s easy to slip from
tasteful self promotion into crass bragging. On Facebook, attempts at online
humor can end up as angry family feuds. And for the uninitiated — and
sometimes, even for seasoned users — literally finding your way around
these services can be a nightmare.
Twitter's test interface, via Mashable.
Twitter’s test interface, via Mashable.
And yet the companies behind them seem intent on making these services even
harder to use. They keep blurring the lines between one service and another.
The latest example: Twitter is testing a redesign (see right) that makes it
look an awful lot like Facebook, according to a report from news site
Mashable. Twitter wants its service to serve as more than just a flow of
news and other public information. It’s trying to beef up its private
messaging tools so that they become just as prominent.
Meanwhile, Facebook wants to handle more than just your family and friend
connections. It wants to juggle news too. In recent years, it has evolved to
look more and more like Twitter. Even LinkedIn, a social network originally
intended for professional use, now lets you share photos, videos, links,
and personal thoughts — much like Twitter and Facebook.
In other words, all the biggest social networks are determined to turn
themselves into one-stop shops for all your online social needs.
The problem is: Real people don’t want to use them that way. In its 10
years of existence, Facebook has failed — time and again — to coax users
into posting different streams of information for different audiences. It
has even developed clever technology to sort your contacts into special
lists with labels like “close friends,” “family,” “co-workers,” and
acquaintances, but, as far as I can tell, very few people actually use them.
Twitter has long given people the power to create private feeds that came be
viewed only be certain people, but users typically ignore this too. Twitter
is most effective as means of broadcasting stuff to the world at large.
The real-world evidence, then, indicates that while people are happy to use
social media in different ways for different audiences, they want a distinct
service for each use case. Few are complaining that they have too many
social media logins and need to consolidate. Instead, they find it too hard
to use the social media we already have, particularly while maintaining
privacy.
Wall Street wants Twitter to grow more quickly and find a place in the
mainstream, a message sent loud and clear by the recent drop in the company
’s share price. But it shouldn’t muddle what makes it distinct from the
rest. If it turns itself into Facebook, there’s no reason to use it. Over 1
.2 billion people are already using the real thing.