Metafluence

Wishing for a social network bridge

There are so many social networks out there that it’s hard to keep track of everything: Passwords, profiles, friends, messages, feature updates, the scene, etc. Roy Christopher and I shared a few of our wishes and thought if we put them out there maybe some wicked smart developers would run with these awesome ideas.

Single login

This is a no brainer. I know about the OpenID project, but it hasn’t solved this problem yet. I know about Microsoft Passport, it hasn’t solved the problem yet either. I think a widget connected friend network like MyBlogLog or BlogCatalog could make the solution happen. The widget should control permissions like who is allowed to comment, look at photos, send messages, etc. If someone like MySpace were to widetize their network and create a plugin for WordPress, TypePad, and others, they could expand into the market dominating position.

Profile feed

Things like my default photo, about me info, and profile data should be updateable from a single admin. It would be sweet if this info were streamed in a standardized XML format.

Multi-message manager (MMM)

I’d like it if my email, MySpace mail, text messages, tweets, and other messages could be handled by a single message manager. Roy added that it would be killer if the replies would be sent back to the originating source, such as a comment that would be posted on the blog it came from.

These are just a few things we thought of in a quick conversation that would improve our experience with socializing online. I look forward to a future where the various social networks become the social interconnected network. We could call it the social internet!