Some of the top internet analysts are predicting that Social Discovery Sites will revolutionize the Web. The very existance of Facebook, for instance, may be in jeopardy — or in for a major expansion.
“Social discovery will remake the Internet, or at least how we plumb it,” explains Internet guru David Copeland in an online article titled Social Discovery is Pushing Search and Social Closer. He continued, “Need evidence? Persistent rumors of a Facebook search engine, Google’s efforts to integrate Google+ into its search results and Microsoft’s addition of Facebook tagging into Bing results.”
What is Social Discovery? “Social discovery is philosophy of online search that holds that people are more likely to accept a friend’s opinion or advice than that of a general crowd or a search algorithm,” explained Copeland. ”Having been built on algorithms, Google and Bing are looking for ways to include social discovery in their traditional search results.”
Jennifer Peck, director of engagement at Banjo, maker of a social-discovery app that shows people’s social profiles based on their location, explains: “We know that most people trust peer recommendations over advertisements, and about 25% of search results for the world’s top twenty largest brands are linked to user-generated content.”
Into the social discovery site mashup comes Pinkytoe.
Launched by the team at Ten Ball Labs, Pinkytoe.com is a “social discovery site for anyone who wants to meet new people online. Rather than connecting you with the people you already know, Pinkytoe helps people break the ice and make new friends who share their interests.”
Pinkytoe builds on the growing popularity of social discovery websites, like social photo sharing website Pinterest, which currently has over 11.5 million users globally and has grown over 2000% since May 2011.
Whereas traditional social networking websites, like Facebook and LinkedIn, do a great job of connecting you with the people you already know, Pinkytoe allows users to find and connect with new people who share similar interests but are not part of their current social network.
To fight the threat of social discovery sites, Facebook is partnering with Mobile Social Moko — the Mobile Social Media company MOKO.mobi is currently developing deep integrations into the Facebook platform to take advantage of Facebook global user base.
Despite the appearance of Mobile Social Moko, some experts are expecting that the new social discovery websites will pose a real threat to social networking platforms like Facebook in 2012 and 2013 – perhaps no surprise, considering the fact that the number of people in the world you don’t know is far larger than the number of people you do know.
“Have you ever wanted to meet someone but didn’t have the nerve? Is there someone out there who you are so interested in that you’d hypothetically give up your pinkytoe to meet? That’s what pinkytoe.com is all about. With one simple mouse click you can send a kiss, marry someone or even proclaim them worthy of your pinkytoe!” explains Pinkytoe’s founder.
Many younger people no longer want to be on a social network with their parents. Pinkytoe is a place where you can express who you really are and make new friends.
Pinkytoe is a community built on fun and positive reinforcement, and aims to provide a safe, comfortable online environment for people to meet, chat and become friends.
Once users have broken the ice, they can send private messages and interact with people from around the country.
Pinkytoe is created specifically for Generation C (or Generation Connected) – Americans between the ages of 13 and 34, who are more connected digitally and online than any other age group. Making up only 23% of the U.S. population, Generation C represents an outsized portion of consumers watching online videos (27%&, visiting social networking/blog sites (27%), owning tablets (33%) and using a smartphone (39%).
Further reading: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/social-discovery-is-pushing-search-and-social-closer.php
Keywords: generation C, meet new people online, mobile social moko, social discovery app, social discovery site, social empires, social media, social network, what is social discovery
