Why Do Social Products Tend Towards Clutter?

This article explores the challenges of designing social products and why they often become cluttered, losing their initial clean, single-purpose design. It highlights the inevitable path towards cluttered interfaces and diluted brands as social products attempt to accommodate a multitude of social activities.

• The desire to offer a variety of social interactions can lead to a “tab explosion” with features like blogs, chat, and more.
• Examples like MySpace's extensive top menu and Facebook's application bar demonstrate the tendency for clutter as these platforms try to centralize social activities.

Users Push for More Social Activities, Not Less

The main driving force behind the growth of social activities is users' desire for diverse ways to interact with their friends. These various activities offer nuanced ways to communicate and express social signals.

• Social media platforms allow for richer interactions than offline counterparts.
• Users continually request new social interactions, making it difficult for platforms to maintain a clean and focused design.

The Social Web Laundry List: A Catalog of Features

The demand for new social activities often leads to a recurring list of features that appear across many social products. This article examines this phenomenon and how it contributes to design clutter.

• Polls, quizzes, reviews, comments, forums, chat, blogs, videos, photos, multimedia, avatars, leaderboards, private/public messaging, and status messages are all common features found in social media platforms.
• The article suggests that the inclusion of such features might be a sign of a product roadmap focused on short-term user engagement rather than long-term market positioning.

Facebook, MySpace, and the Importance of Defining "Core" Features

The article discusses the challenges of differentiating a social product from competitors in the face of numerous shared features. It emphasizes the importance of defining core features and carefully managing extraneous social activities.

• The article highlights the dilemma of sacrificing brand strength for short-term engagement by adopting every popular feature.
• It suggests that a balanced approach is needed to avoid overwhelming users with clutter and maintaining a clear brand identity.

Potential Solutions for Managing Clutter on Social Media Platforms

The article proposes several solutions to address the design challenges of social product clutter, drawing on examples like Facebook and MySpace. These solutions offer different approaches to managing user-generated content, extensions, and off-site integration.

• Build Everything: MySpace's strategy of incorporating every imaginable feature, as seen in its extensive top menu bar.
• Open CSS/HTML Layer: Allowing users to customize their profiles using CSS/HTML, as seen on MySpace and eBay.
• Rich Onsite Platform: The Facebook/OpenSocial approach, where applications reside within the platform.
• Off-Site APIs and Activities: Building APIs that enable off-site applications and websites to extend functionality, as seen with Twitter and blogs.
• Focus on One Thing: Prioritizing core value over expanding features, though this approach is often difficult for ambitious companies.

Facebook and MySpace: A Tale of Two Platforms

The article uses Facebook and MySpace as case studies to illustrate the different ways social platforms have handled the challenge of design clutter. While MySpace opted for an expansive approach with numerous features, Facebook embraced a more focused approach with a platform for applications.

• Facebook's platform model, with its focus on third-party applications, is a prime example of how social platforms can manage user-generated content and features without overwhelming users.
• MySpace's experience underscores the potential drawbacks of incorporating every imaginable feature, leading to a cluttered and confusing user experience.

Designing for User Engagement and Long-Term Success

The article emphasizes the importance of striking a balance between user engagement and a clear brand identity in social product design. It advocates for a thoughtful approach to feature selection and integration.

• Focus on core features that define the platform's unique value.
• Carefully integrate additional social activities to enhance user engagement without compromising user experience and brand clarity.