Other people's networks

     Here is one consideration for when to build your own social network and when to use existing social networks: whether you have an abundance of community around your organization already vs. if you are seeking to grow a community. If it's A, then build a social network. If you're looking to grow from nothing, consider starting in B (other people's social networks).

     I use both for my own interests. I think it's important to be part of the community at large, and so I participate on Twitter, to a lesser extent on Facebook, and then in a variety of other places. My personal method is to focus on the people, not the platform, meaning that I'm not on Facebook because it's Facebook. I'm there because some of my friends and business colleagues are there. That's a popular Eric Rice warning to social networks, too. He goes where his crowd is, not just to the new and shiny thing.

     For you, it's mostly a question of whether you have the community in place and are looking for a targeted place within your platform to offer them tools and resources to connect and cross-communicate. One of the current best-of-breed examples of this is FastCompany.com, who turned their online property into a social network around their magazine's points of business, instead of a rehash of their magazine. Points go to USAToday.com for their effort, too.

     Is there a hybrid model? I think so. You can perhaps build a network and understand that it might be slow to grow, and then grow your community by participating in "outpost" areas like Facebook or Twitter or the other two billion networks that are out there.

     Source: Social Media and Social Networking Starting Points (Chris Brogan) e-book