Community first, social networking second
I think Bil Burnham has it exactly right in this post "MySpace Equals Mo’Money For VCs, Especially VantagePoint":
As I outlined earlier, unlike Friendster and its clones, MySpace took a unique approach to the Social Networking space and concentrated heavily on building a community first (centered around music and bands), and a social network second. The strategy worked and by the beginning of 2005 MySpace was the clear #1 player in the social networking space.
The social networks that built out without a "reason for being", that is, without a core shared value, find that their user base is very active for the first few days and then peter off in a fog of disinterest.
By having an activity, a common interest, a community to build around, MySpace, and ot a lesser extent Flickr, have shown that human beings will indeed network. They just need something to network about.
This shared value then becomes the nucleus around which real human behavior, and increased website utilization, can crystallize around.
Great work MySpace!
On another note, it's always a joy to read Bill Burnham. He was a prominent equity analyst before becoming one of the "eBoys" at Benchmark Capital, where I met him a couple of times in 2003-4. His questions were great and his thoughtfulness apparent then.
It's great to read somebody else who shares my two interests in the internet business: both the "isn't this stuff cool?" geekjoy and the generally-less-exciting "how do these businesses get financed and what makes them successful businesses?" mindset of the analyst.
Keep on writing Bill!
