The Long Tail and Social Software

This book seems relevant for a library management class, but what is its application to social software? I understand that the hypothesis is that the Internet has changed our economy, but how is that that relevant to our focus on the use of social software? These are questions I would ask students to consider if this book remains part of this course.

Now, for some answers. Although I had some ideas, I didn't have what I considered to be a great answer. I looked around online to see what learning there mignt be on this topic and found this blog post by Adina Levin in which she opines that "The Long Tail is social." http://alevin.com/weblog/archives/001663.html

In this post, the author discusses a comment Anderson made while criticizing those who have distorted the term the "long tail" to mean the "fringe" market. According to the author, Anderson said that for long tail business models to be successful, they need to have both popular and niche content in their inventory. The author agrees that this works for Amazon and others, but points out that combining popular and niche markets is not always necessary, particularly in the arena of social software markets.

In social software markets, purely niche markets are successful. This is because social software does not rely on content for success, but instead is fueled by its users. To support her thesis, the author point to Flickr, a network people join to share photos and to Live Journal, which draws people looking to socialize with friends and family members.

Another connection that I can see is that the introduction of social software as much as the introduction of the Internet has affected this evolution in the economy toward the long tail. As people are able to communicate easily with those with similar niche interests, the demand for easily obtainable niche products and services increases. As time goes on, social software will provide more opportunities for individuals with very specific and niche interests to meet one another and share those interests.