I have been thinking about Social Consolidation these past few days, following a conversation on Facebook. There are several projects in development which strive to gather all the information and communication streams of several social networking sites and tools into one place. I first began to think about this when I was irritated about having to update my profile picture at all the different sites and apps every time I thought I had a better image of my mug. Now, with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Foursquare, Yelp, etc. it’s becoming more and more of a chore to keep track of information and people.
I also see these sites and apps taking on more and more ideas of one another. Latest is Yelp adding a “Check in” function to their iPhone app, basically competing with Foursquare. Then I think about the fact that Yelp canceled their deal with Google. What are they planning? Or could another party have a better offer and be more suited? Could Facebook be interested?
Could there be a social consolidation wave coming? Where Facebook will go on a buying spree and thereby add more social functionality and consolidate the information stream? Or will they buy one of the social consolidation apps and provide a concentrated place for all your streams?
Social Consolidation Projects
Threadsy
Raindrop
