I was interested to read a few days ago that Verizon plans to discontinue its branded social community and move it over to Facebook. Their Facebook page has over 18,000 “fans”:
Of course it’s very smart of Verizon to particpate in social networks — Strategic Communications Group has its own page, and we regularly help clients identify and reach out to communities of interest on Facebook. But Facebook pages do not offer all the tools of a true social network site, and it’s a closed environment. On the other hand, the pages are easy to set up and come with a huge built-in audience.
I’ll be joining Verizon’s page to help me determine which phone I should upgrade to — it’s way past time. But until Facebook upgrades its features and opens up its walled garden, Verizon should wait to shut down their own social community located at http://community.verizon.net/index.jspa.
Chris,
You touch on an important issue here: the “walled garden” approach that currently defines social networking on the Web. I understand the economic factors which result in Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc. wanting to keep members on their site.
Ultimately, I believe user demands for portability will drive this to change.