ProfileLinker Takes Meebo Approach to Social Networking
There are clearly too many social networks, and if you belong to one you likely belong to many. Boston based (soon to be relocated to San Francisco) ProfileLinker's aim is to help you stay organized across those networks.
Context & Ripple Effects
TechCrunch frames ProfileLinker against a problem its own description concedes: too many social networks, with any member of one likely belonging to several. Boston-based ProfileLinker applies a template already proven by Meebo in instant messaging — sitting on top of existing services rather than replacing them — and is relocating to San Francisco to be closer to the consumer-web scene.
The confirmed mechanics: the service aggregates a user's accounts across multiple social networks so identities can be managed from one place, rather than asking anyone to abandon the networks they already use.
First-order effects
- Users spread across several networks gain a single management layer for their scattered profiles, while the underlying networks cede first-touch contact with those users to an intermediary.
Second-order effects
- The networks ProfileLinker sits atop face a choice between tolerating the aggregation layer and restricting third-party access to profile data — the same tension Meebo's model creates with IM providers.
Third-order effects
- If aggregation proves durable, social networking drifts toward a structure where a neutral identity layer mediates between users and walled-garden services, shifting leverage toward whoever controls the cross-network interface.
The trend: Social networking is producing an intermediation layer that treats user identity as portable across competing walled-garden services, with Meebo's aggregator playbook as the template.