A New Kind of Social Network
Are we Simler?
That is the question driving the Internet’s latest vowel-deprived social platform. If Facebook is designed to help you stay in touch with friends and acquaintances, Simler takes the opposite approach. Instead of designing another social network where activity revolves around a user’s social circle (as defined by their “friends”), Simler’s social interaction revolves around ideas.
How it works
Allow me to explain. Users join the site and are prompted to enter ideas, topics and interests. Each of these inputs is captured as a “tag.” These tags later become flashpoints for conversation. Interested in talking about Michael Jackson? There is a conversation thread occurring under the [Michael Jackson] tag. Perhaps you’d prefer to expound on the ramifications of fast vs. slow zombies. Simply add a [zombies] tag to your profile and jump into the conversation that’s already in progress.
Users can create add new tags to the Simler ecosystem at any time. The result, though a bit chaotic, is a hybrid between a BBS, a message board, a chat room and a social network.
Simler's tags aggregate to form a snapshot of a user's interests.
The social networking aspect kicks in as a user continues to use the site. Every [tag] a user joins is added to their profile. Over time, the system has a pretty good idea of what you’re interested in. This list of interests is a far more accurate self-portrait than the usual posturing that occurs on user-created profile pages. (Are you REALLY an avid Shakespeare fan, or did you just read Hamlet in high school?)
Users are matched based on shared similarities
The Simler system uses this data to find other users who are similar (Simler?) to you. Presumably, you’ll both have lots of things to talk about. Still, amassing a group of “friends” isn’t quite the social status maker it is on other platforms. Having a “friend,” really just means that that user’s comments will show up in your ‘homestream.’ It’s really less of a “friending” system and more of a flagging system. “This user seems interesting and I would like to hear what they have to say.”
Who are you?
Social interactions aside, what fascinates me about the Simler platform is its unique approach to understanding and building a user profile. There have been no shortages of attempts to profile users on the Internet: social network profiles, Twitter analyzers, demographic surveys, and more. Simler’s approach, constructing a profile of interests from on site activity, feels the most resistant to user manipulation and seems likely to paint a fairly accurate portrait of the user. Certainly matching users with similar users is a fun use of the data, but I’m wondering how else they could harness their data. What could a site do with Simler Connect?
The site just launched last week and is still experiencing growing pains. Things like how to handle multiple threads on the same topic or managing conversations that span multiple topics? What is the best way to follow conversations and find new ones?
Regardless, this is one platform to keep an eye on. Those monkeys have some big ideas.
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Glen Starchman…
Great writeup, Brian! We appreciate it.
We are in the process of unveiling an externally available API and you can follow the progress at http://simler.com/simler-api. We plan on doing a beta release to select development partners at the end of the month.
Thanks again for a great article.
The Simians at Simler
Jeramy…
I like the monkeys
Lefty…
These monkeys have a fairly uninspired list of “ideas” on their site. Simler appears dull and desperate. Should be interesting to see if they get called on for aping the Barrel of Monkeys Logo.
Carl…
Nice post and cracking blog by the way. Interestingly Japan’s biggest social network Mixi is similar to this in that people join a community within the network. What’s even more interesting is that you have to be invited to join by an existing member
Brian…
Simler recently opened their doors, they were recently “invite only” as well.
@Lefty. Twitter appears dull and desperate too. What was your prediction on that?
The success of any social platform really relies less on the developer’s design genius (though that is certainly important) and more on the platform’s users. Can they find or create unique value in the platform? Is the platform flexible enough to handle new ideas? Usually, the value of a social platform is very different from what the designers intended. I’m sure Facebook wasn’t designed for stalking, or gaming, or political organizing. Twitter wasn’t designed for news reporting, or link aggregating, or even real-time search.
To that end, Simler does maintain an open communications channel with their users and hopefully new features as well as ingenious uses of existing ones will begin to manifest as the site gets under way. Getting things moving with an API is a good way to start. We’ll see if the dev community runs with it!
Lefty…
Brian, My take on Twitter was that it was an original idea. Simler is not original, read Carl’s comment on Mixi, Then there is (was)Tribe, etc. Nothing genius going on with the similar Simler family. Monkey see, monkey do.
Senior…
Simler is good indeed, but I saw a project called Lifelemon ( http://www.lifelemon.com ) that seems to me to integrate ideas and experiences quite better into social media.. i think it’s broader and the content is of better quality. Or is it only my view?
PeteyX…
More like monkey see, monkey flame. What’s the deal with that?
I’m with Brian above in that one of Simler’s core strengths so far is incorporating user feedback into their dev process and keeping that discussion accessible.
Keeping the community so involved the dev loop is indeed fairly novel, especially as the update trends in other SM networks are becoming more geared toward monetization as opposed to, you know, what users want.
In any case, there were better social networks than MySpace, and it caught, there are better ones than Facebook, and it caught. The network requires participants, Simler seems to have a great approach to engaging and connecting them, so God bless us all.
Lefty…
Monkey flame or monkey flame out? I know where my bets are placed.