BlueRun Ventures: Interest graphs will change social networks and future businesses

Given Facebook's dominance in the social space, it's easy to assume that a lot of innovation in this area has ended. However, in fact, as we explained in the article "Looking beyond Facebook at social networks: What will the rise of interest social networks bring?" yesterday, the social field is still full of opportunities. We haven't even figured out the simplest and most basic questions about how social networks interact and how to get value and happiness from them. How can we easily conclude that innovation is over! With the rise of interest social networks today, we have enough reason to think about who will lead the transformation of social networks: interest social networks that bring people together based on common interests and hobbies will play a driving role. The reasons are as follows:

Argument 1: Interest graphs are different from social graphs

Naval Ravikant and Adam Rifkin, two foreign investors, once pointed out that the "social graph" is based on the social connections you personally know, so the circle is limited; while the "interest graph" is based on common interests and hobbies, and does not require mutual acquaintance, thus greatly expanding the depth and breadth of social interaction. It generally has the following characteristics:

1. Built on one-way following rather than two-way friendly
2. Organized around shared interests, not personal relationships
3. Public by default, not private by default
4. Strive together: It doesn’t matter who you were in the past or who you are now, but who you want to be in the future.

If Facebook is the most complete "social graph" service, then Twitter is the most complete "interest graph" (for China, there seems to be no separate Facebook-like "social graph", Weibo seems to have more and more functions of both but focuses more on the latter). We often "follow" some people we don't know, and the reason for making such a decision is often that their profound insights and interests are affirmed and appreciated by you. When we "friend" someone, it is often a confirmation of a real relationship in real life. Many times, we tend to have more interactions with the former, but rarely communicate with the real latter (think about whether the people you often forward or comment on Weibo belong to the former or the latter).

Therefore, we can draw a conclusion. Today's social networks cannot be called real social networks. Whether it is Facebook based on real relationships or Twitter, Pinterest or Weibo based on interests and hobbies, they are just part of social networks. Or we can say that Facebook is a relationship social network, while Twitter, Pinterest and Weibo can be called interest social networks. Perhaps other types of social relationship forms will appear in the future.

Argument 2: Interest graphs and social graphs have their own strengths and complement each other

When you visit Silicon Valley for a few days, you should feel comfortable and relieved if people have the idea that "the future of the world depends on what we are doing". You will find that people in Silicon Valley often work together with their friends to start businesses. In reality, the best filtering and recommendation information often comes from their friends' recommendations rather than computer algorithms. Although for some things, friends' recommendations and sharing are of great value, they are not a panacea. We will see that this "truth" is no longer useful in the field of music social networking.

I am a music fanatic. I listen to music almost all the time even when I am working, and I am always discovering new things. After the emergence of music social networks, you no longer have to receive music sharing from friends who have different tastes from you on Facebook every day. You can use various tags to store, share and subscribe to your favorite songs, albums, musicians and even radio stations, and control your music life completely according to your own mode, without having to follow a certain sharer and receive unnecessary redundant information. Similar examples exist not only in the field of music, but also in movies, books, papers and a certain area of ​​life. Because people's taste in specific areas has exceeded the social circle of real friends. Some of the most successful music services abroad, such as Last.fm and Pandora, as well as domestic Xiami and Douban, are more based on your interest graph rather than the social graph. You can have fun on them without friends.

Of course, social graphs are still very important in some aspects, such as recommending which party you should go to, which event is worth attending, etc. But a key point is that the things you like and your friends' are often not 1:1. Maybe you had a common hobby in something 5 years ago, but now it may be completely opposite. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Without common interests, if there are no common interests (in fact, interest and interest are both Interest in English), the relationship of friends seems to be discounted. Therefore, both play their own roles in their respective fields.

Argument 3: For the entire social network, the interest graph and social graph that you really care about actually only account for a small part

For the entire network, these two are still a certain distance from your real needs in real life. For example, on Twitter, some very influential people have different interest tags, and their opinions occupy too much share in your average interest graph. In your social graph, there are many people you are closer to: your family, your relatives, your best friends, and those you can invite to your wedding. At this time, how to distinguish the different values ​​between these different relationships is very important. In response to such needs, a new life sharing application Path came into being.

Argument 4: Interest graphs will reconstruct your social graph

In real life, interest graphs and social graphs often influence each other. In high school, you and classmates with common interests are attracted to each other and become friends in social relationships. Similarly, in your career stage, you participate in activities in specific fields and establish social relationships with people who have common points. In this way, these interest-based relationships gradually enter your social graph, which is an example of the transformation from interest graph to social graph in real life. Similarly, the interest graph established online will also enter your social graph in real life. Organize online activities and establish relationships through Twitter and other social media such as blogs, and slowly develop such relationships into real life, thereby transforming interest relationships on the Internet into social relationships in real life.

All these processes are reshaping our social networks. Using them, you will gradually find that it is easier to find partners, share knowledge and experience with those in need, and recruit suitable employees in both life and business. Entrepreneurs will find that creating simple and fun products will go further.

The above is not a discussion of the value of interest graphs and social graphs. We can see that they are different things, follow different social norms, face different opportunities and challenges, have different forms of value, and are increasingly influencing each other.

As for the entire social network, we seem to know too little. How to tap into human needs and how to make our social relationships harmonious and simple are all worth thinking about and exploring. Entrepreneurs who can clearly utilize this evolution and create products and services that make life and business easier and more fun will be the ultimate winners.