Now that Facebook’s Beacon advertising platform has (rightfully) bowed to the will of their customer base, news arrives that professional social network LinkedIn is on the cusp of launching a similar program. Currently bearing the verbose name LinkedIn Intelligent Application Platform (say that three times fast!), LiIAP will allow developers to build applications that run inside a LinkedIn account using the OpenSocial API as well allowing LinkedIn users to extract their profile data and distribute it as they see fit. Furthermore, LinkedIn’s data will be pulled into Business Week online, helping to contextualize the content with your network. Going even further, the popular applications that are designed for LinkedIn can be made into widgets which users can then place in any other social network (hint, hint) or site you choose.
Only the execution will prove whether or not this is as customer-centric and respectful as it sounds, but I think there are a couple of obvious lessons here that Facebook should pay attention to:
1. Do not squander the goodwill of your user base, social networks!
Of course the majority of people with Facebook profiles want to share information with their friends–but on their own terms. This is the key piece of the puzzle that was missed. Facebook seems to have taken user permissions as a carte blanche to do whatever they like with our data. Facebook ignored the context of the situation and thus squandered the goodwill of their otherwise contented user base.
2. User research will save you time, money and hassle
Had Facebook taken the time to do some basic user research (instead of, one assumes, listening to the glistening talking heads in their marketing department), they would have known from the word go that Beacon was a bad, bad, terrible, no good idea. Instead we hear a Vice President inside Facebook claiming that with time, users will “fall in love” with their innovations. It’s not entirely clear if LinkedIn made these choices because of user research or because their user base is a) older and b) professional–but it does show that LinkedIn is trying to give something to users in exchange using their data in different ways.
User-generated content can easily turn to discontent if businesses fail to appreciate that people are sharing a piece of themselves–respect that context and success will follow.
Written by Gabby Hon
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Kelly Shaw
