Ever notice how everyone ends up in the kitchen at a party? It may not be the most comfortable place or the biggest space but it has one big advantage- food and drinks!
What usually happens is that the kitchen gets too full and people start breaking out to other rooms- the basement, porch, living room etc. Usually these migrations are headed up by individuals who assess the crowded scene and decide to head out with the handful of people in the current conversation.
So what does this have to do with the Web?
The Web is full of “kitchens”. Places people congregate, hang out, exchange content, etc. A “kitchen” is somewhere you go pretty much every day. The conversation is meaningful (the “food” that brings you there). Even if some of the people there may be strangers you know them through associations so it is easy to start up conversations.
What are some examples of current Web “kitchens”?
Twitter, Facebook, MySpace (still for musicians), Ning communities, Blogs, etc. All these sites attract people on a daily basis.
What happens with these Web “kitchens” is analogous to what happens in real kitchens at real parties. Too many people crowd into the kitchen and soon the conversations becoming shouting matches and begin to lose their value. This forces people to splinter off and find new places to congregate.
We saw this with My Space, for normal users, about 2 years ago when there was a mass migration to Facebook. We now see Facebook being threatened by new platforms (not really “sites” per se) like Twitter and FriendFeed.
The challenge is to walk the line between reaching critical mass (enough people involved to get things rolling) and being over-crowded (a virtual shouting match).
The sites and Web platforms that recognize and respect this delicate balance will win the day.
In my opinion Twitter is best positioned to walk this line since you can really create a fine tuned environment enabling a sustained meaningful conversation. Time will tell.
Where is your “kitchen” on the Web?
Here’s where I hang out-
twitter.com/jebbanner (business)
facebook.com/people/Jeb-Banner/525557352 (personal)
musicalfamilytree.net (music)
