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zaadz
October 2008 
Towards an Integral Zaadz
Posted on Jan 23rd, 2006
by 
Aeon
Aeon
Brian was on this rant the other day about zaadz and silos. At first I thought he had just drank too many of those superfood shakes he's been into recently but then he showed me Nick's very interesting blog about going beyond the silo with social networking.
Basically, what Nick is talking about is the difference between a site that has a very specific focus and therefore limits itself to a niche audience (silo) and those with a broader focus and therefore, a more diverse user-base (perch).
First of all, I just want to make a distinction about who zaadz is serving. When we first came up with the idea for zaadz, we talked about creating a community for 'spiritual' people. Unfortunately, the word 'spiritual' normally conjures up a vision of groups of monks sitting in silent meditation or perhaps, like Nick mentions, a bunch of idealistic vegans.
Our big realization is that 'spiritual' doesn't have to be put into a box (or a silo). We believe that spirituality is about following your soul's purpose, whether that's about doing yoga, spinning poi or creating the next big thing on the web.
And speaking of the next big thing, yes, it's true that social networking is going to blow up over the course of the next year or two. I would expect there to be hundreds of social networking sites popping up in the near future. Of course, it would be nice if there was some kind of standard for managing my global profile across multiple sites, but then who's going to come up with that standard and how is it going to be adopted?
In my personal opinion, that's not going to happen. What will happen is that 100s of social networking sites will appear across the web landscape and the ones that will survive will be the ones that are providing real value for their customers.
I've seen it all play out before. Do you know how many free web based email services there used to be? Now there's maybe 3 main ones because they are the ones that survived the market. Yep, the internet is still a market. I won't go off on a Brian tangent but it does take money to support these free services and that money is coming from somewhere.
So how will Zaadz survive the social networking boom and come out standing on the other side?
So, in conclusion... zaadz: silo vs perch? - I dunno. I like to think of zaadz as a city - An exercise in building intentional community online.
-A
Basically, what Nick is talking about is the difference between a site that has a very specific focus and therefore limits itself to a niche audience (silo) and those with a broader focus and therefore, a more diverse user-base (perch).
First of all, I just want to make a distinction about who zaadz is serving. When we first came up with the idea for zaadz, we talked about creating a community for 'spiritual' people. Unfortunately, the word 'spiritual' normally conjures up a vision of groups of monks sitting in silent meditation or perhaps, like Nick mentions, a bunch of idealistic vegans.
Our big realization is that 'spiritual' doesn't have to be put into a box (or a silo). We believe that spirituality is about following your soul's purpose, whether that's about doing yoga, spinning poi or creating the next big thing on the web.
And speaking of the next big thing, yes, it's true that social networking is going to blow up over the course of the next year or two. I would expect there to be hundreds of social networking sites popping up in the near future. Of course, it would be nice if there was some kind of standard for managing my global profile across multiple sites, but then who's going to come up with that standard and how is it going to be adopted?
In my personal opinion, that's not going to happen. What will happen is that 100s of social networking sites will appear across the web landscape and the ones that will survive will be the ones that are providing real value for their customers.
I've seen it all play out before. Do you know how many free web based email services there used to be? Now there's maybe 3 main ones because they are the ones that survived the market. Yep, the internet is still a market. I won't go off on a Brian tangent but it does take money to support these free services and that money is coming from somewhere.
So how will Zaadz survive the social networking boom and come out standing on the other side?
- We have a solid business model. Free services are nice but at a certain point, all businesses have to consider their bottom line. We figured that out a few years ago. It was called the .com bust.
I mean, I love tribe.net too but look what happened. Mark Pincus, the founder had a pure vision to create online community. The idea was great, it got really big, and now you've got some ex pepsi / procter & gamble exec trying to figure out how to make money off of the thing.
Better or worse than starting with a both a financial plan and the passion to create community? - We're creating an ethos. Far from a box, an ethos simply conveys the values of the community we're trying to build. Much like Burning Man sets up a container within which people can freely express themselves.
So what's the ethos of zaadz? Basically we're trying to raise the center of gravity and encourage people to be passionate about the lives they're living and inspire and empower others to live fully and make a difference in the world.
Far from the traditional, 'meat market' approach that most social networking sites have adopted, we stand for change in the world, and you end up getting conversations like this on the site. (check out the comments... neat, huh?) - We're going to be inclusive.
We keep getting requests for tools that will allow people to import their existing blogs and content from other sites into their zaadz profile. Believe me, I'm working on it right now.
By integrating tools that other sites have provided to share content, (other blogs, flickr feeds, 43things goals, etc) we open up the silo even more. It's my belief that in doing this, we'll create a standard where it's imperative that you open your software up to the public or you risk losing your audience to 'yet another login' syndrome.
So, in conclusion... zaadz: silo vs perch? - I dunno. I like to think of zaadz as a city - An exercise in building intentional community online.
-A
Access: Public
You are so incredibly informative!!! I feel like I am right there with you guys by reading these updates and such…. with communications like these, it’s easy to sit back and feel at ease with “where this is going”….
Kudos! You all rock! =D
Great thoughts, Aeon, but I’m not sure you go my point, or if I expressed it well enough.
A silo and a perch are BOTH about niche audiences. In both cases we are gathering a group of people who share very specific visions and goals. The difference is how we are connected to the rest of the world.
A silo means we are isolate from our other communities and connections.
A perch means that we are still connected to them.
I’m excited about zaadz for the same reason as you. It is gathering a community of people who share common visions and goals. I simply think we will be more effective in reaching those goals if we maximize the degree to which we are integrated into the larger community.
I do think social networking standards will emerge, just the way the blog services are working on a standard blog API: The Echo Project.
I think it will take time, mind you. I’ll be rooting for zaadz to be on this particular wagon whenever possible. :)
I think I got it. That was what I was referring to in point 3 of being inclusive.
I don’t know of any well adopted social networking standards as of yet, but we’ll be keeping our eyes out. Tools like the ones that allow you to import existing blog feeds, flickr photos, del.icio.us links and the like are coming and will be part of our efforts to keep the community open.
I’m doing backflips. :)
i’m really excited about where this is going, and i’m glad you guys are such a transparent company. i really appreciate that zaadz is something different….not the “run of the mill meat market” as you mentioned. there is a ton of valuable information on here. as you pointed out, a lot of blogs/ comments on blogs are both insightful and soulful.
The standard is already there - how does FOAF not fit?
It’s an xml specification, that is based on a clear logic, that all social networking sites can share, correct?
FOAF is fine and all and we are looking into where we can integrate it into the site but it hardly seems to be a standard. Who is using it besides tribe?
Well, you have ELGG using it.
Drupal has a module for FOAF.
I probably see more of this, as I am on the e-learning side of the equation - as is Robin, I believe -
But you have a good point in that it is about market share right now - so the big players are not interested in a standard or specification. The same way AOL isn’t really interested in a standard for Instant Messaging.
By the way, there is also the E-Portfolio spec from IMS, this could also be a standard.
A good article on this at Educause as well.
Best!
I also guess it is the difference between “standard” and specification, depending on how you define it. Until recently, Word was the only “standard” in town, up until Massachusetts went with the OASIS specification.
Exactly. We’ll do our best to keep up with the latest unfoldings in the social networking space. Most of all, we’ll looking for features/standards/specifications that really provide a benefit for our users… and we’ll keep checking here.
excellent post man. i got goosebumps and teary-eyed while reading this. finally! some web wizardz who care! i’ll be watching and jiving with you guys.
take care and stay lucid y’all.
<geekspeak>
i agree with Aaron that standards (e.g. profiles) seem to be on the bottom list of social networking services. that’s understandable because software if evolves and goes through the same survival of the fittest path. the most successful of them wins and those who hold the standards holds the toll-booth so to speak so just imagine the competition.
specification is good, but until companies are “forced” to adopt them, they’re only optional.
another thing is, it’s really complex and challenging to implement “global” profiles. first there are tons of categories of social software (social networking service is just one of them). do the gaming people (e.g. MMOGs) care about Friendster? i don’t think so. so why bother?
one solution that some people are proposing is to have an Open Social Network with XDI, coupled with A Universal Private Address (here’s mine: =coolmel). i’m all for following specifications, but for now, it’s almost as if wishing for Web 2.0 Utopia.
and besides, people would want to have multiple personas anyway, do you really want to use your global profile when you subscribe to adult-oriented social networks? or when you play those sexually explicit MMOGs? i know i don’t :)
</geekspeak>
Open Social Network seems like a comprehensive solution - but at this time too large a solution.
My only point is, a lightweight, simple, specifications exists for exchanging data between networking sites, in the form of FOAF, for login and ID information.
That companies for now are ignoring this specification - yes, this means there isn’t a standard.
But this quote -
“By integrating tools that other sites have provided to share content, (other blogs, flickr feeds, 43things goals, etc) we open up the silo even more. It’s my belief that in doing this, we’ll create a standard where it’s imperative that you open your software up to the public or you risk losing your audience to ‘yet another login’ syndrome.”
is true only if Zaadz wins the game, and thus creates the standard. Otherwise zaadz will adopt the winner’s standard (and MySpace - the ostensible “winner” so far - and one of the worst of the bunch, in my opinion, doesn’t have any interoperability).
I would think this would mean the “smaller” social networks would do well to adopt a specification, in hopes of - by default - saving themselves the headache of always trying to write to the winner’s standards - to the degree that the winner will even offer an API to go from “silo” to “perch”.
“I would think this would mean the “smaller” social networks would do well to adopt a specification, in hopes of - by default - saving themselves the headache of always trying to write to the winner’s standards - to the degree that the winner will even offer an API to go from “silo” to “perch”.”
excellent point, ebudda.
not sure if the Zaadz wizardz are onto this. i think they are. they’re wizardz for a reason. but so far i think the “make it a no-brainer to import stuff” is a better approach for now. even the cutting-edge web 2.0 stuff is temporal. i’m sure that they’re also working on APIs. btw, APIs are sort of corporate samsaric jargon for toll gates, just ask Microsoft. so there goes the standards :)
one more thing… how about a Metaster? love that kottke dood.