screenshot via Facebook.com
Facebook highlighted some celebrity Timelines on Thursday, including Britney Spears, Tim Tebow and Lea Michele.
It sometimes feels like it was easier to exchange contact information with someone before the Web came along. You really had two options: handing out a business card or scribbling down a phone number. And although the Web promised to make this transaction simpler, it feels more confusing than ever.
Now we have to decide where to send people online whom we meet in real life. Friend me on Facebook; follow me on Twitter; e-mail me; go to my personal Web site. Oh, forget it, just Google me.
Facebook, Twitter, Google and a number of other social networks are trying to become the new first destination for everyone online.
Google began blatantly doing this earlier this year with the launch of the about pages on Google+, the company’s social network. Facebook recently began offering an enhanced profile page, too, with last week’s final release of Timeline. And now Twitter has begun Brand Pages, which are souped-up Twitter homepages that can be designed to show more information about a product or person. (Brand Pages are currently offered only to companies, but they are expected to be available to all users early next year.)
In the early days of the Web, this problem was solved by passing along your AOL Instant Messenger screen name. Then came the rise of the personal Web site, when owning a URL with your full name gave you serious online clout. Now, in the age of social media, it’s just a little bit of everything.
There are also dozens of start-up companies that are trying to become the first point of contact for people online. About.me, for example, which began in late 2009 and has since been sold to AOL, hopes to tie all of these social sites into one place and offers a free profile page for people online.
Tony Conrad, a venture capital investor and co-founder of About.me, explained in an interview that the goal of the company, and the aspirations of other social networks, was to give people the chance to offer others their “best first impression online.”
“One thing that was true 100 years ago, and one thing that will be true 100 years from now, is this: you will only be able to give people a first impression once,” Mr. Conrad explained.
screenshot via Twitter.com
Twitter’s new Brand Pages allow companies to create more immersive destinations.
The problem for most big social sites is each serves a different purpose for people. Facebook is usually a place for friends; Twitter is mostly a sharing outlet; LinkedIn is for business relationships; Google’s function is still to be determined. Managing all of these profile pages can be a daunting task to anyone.
Maybe I’ll just go back to the trusty old business card until this is resolved. Although I’ll still have to figure out which Web sites to print on it.