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The Best Practices for a Complete Social Network

I came across an article from Smashing Magazine titled, Social Network Design: Examples and Best Practices, and found it helpful when creating one’s very own social network. Whether you’re network is public or private these examples and practices can ensure that your social network will be more user-friendly as well as attract more users. There are 10 suggestions that are described in the article. Here are some of the ones that I found worth mentioning.

- Engage Quickly

o One of the most crucial things for a social network is that “users need to know what your site is all about within seconds of reaching your home page.” This all comes from the homepage of your social network. It should immediately give the visitor something to do. Instantly allow them to interact with the network, whether its logging in, exploring the website, finding friends, etc.

- Let Users Express Themselves

o Personalization is the key for social networks. Allowing users to customize their profile pages give them a sense of uniqueness in a large network of people. Prevent users from being lost in the crowd with personalized profiles can help promote your social network.

- Make it Easy to Communicate

o The essence of social networks is to promote communication. Social networks needs multiple means of communication to be successful. Whether it be through comments on wall posts, message boards, or direct messages, communication is extremely important for social networks.

- Include Ways for Members to Connect

o Along with collaboration, connecting with other members has become a hallmark for social networks. Allowing members to create groups and look up other members in a directory will be necessary for creating a successful and popular social network.

The article includes more suggestions as well, but these are ones I would consider the highlights. To see the other suggestions as well as further descriptions of each, please read the full article. The link is as follows: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/13/social-network-design-examples-and-best-practices/

Thanks,

Chris

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