Yelp Combines User Content, Social Networks
News.com writes about social networking sites like Yelp, Going, and I’m In Like With You which combine the Meetup concept with user-generated content to produce sticky sites that will hold on to members.
The piece says in part:
It’s not clear whether any of the current upstart social-networking sites have stumbled upon the “secret formula.” But if Yelpers are any indicator, the next successful online-offline social network may have to go beyond simply offering profiles, friends lists, and photo sharing.
“The secret to Yelp bridging the online-offline gap is the reviews,” Yelp user Adrian said. “Someone’s writing can reveal a lot about that person, so before I meet a reviewer in real life, I have a general idea of who they are and what they are like. With Facebook, I might get an idea of what a person looks like, what movies and music they enjoy, but reading something (that) someone has put a piece of themselves into makes a complete difference.”
