Paul Dunay: Ways to Spend your Social Capital

Posted on: 07-21-2009 Posted in: Blog, Marketing Profs Daily Fix

If you read the last two blog posts on Social Search could it be a Google Killer and When is Amazon go Social, you would begin to get a glimpse of the web in the next 24 months. A very different web that brings your search results based on what your friends clicked on and a buying experience based on what others in your social network (like Facebook) have bought.

I am excited for this to happen, I can’t wait for this to happen, I am completely convinced this is going to happen. In fact I am beginning to see seeds of it happening right now!

Facebook Connect has been generally available now for a while and quietly we are seeing sites begin to take advantage of it. So far I have noted on Inside Facebook …

Users can update their Facebook status, post photos, and play games with friends directly within Xbox Live. In addition, Electronic Arts announced that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 would integrate Facebook Connect on Xbox when it is released this fall, marking the first Facebook Connect integration on a gaming console ever!

Websites will also present themselves very differently if you use your social profile on them though Facebook Connect. They wont say – “Talk to us on Facebook” or “Connect with us on Facebook” they will say use your social profile to get a completely customized experience on our website or navigate our website based on what your friends found important.

These are new an exciting ways you can spend all that Social Capital you have been building up in your Twitter or Facebook account. Increasing Social Capital will become more important than ever to you and your web experience. It will be the way to find things, buy things and experience things on the web.

The time is now to build your Social Capital, synchronize and prune your Social Networks so that followers you have in Twitter are also friends you have in Facebook and connections you have in LinkedIn. Bottom line is you should build your Social Capital now before you need it!