Graalians - The Social Network of All Time

What if you could get paid to use a social network that actually, for once, involves socializing? Make sense? Of course it doesn't at first, because it hasn't really been done before. So let me explain.

We all know the app store, of course. All those apps are submitted content. They are not all Apple-created apps, right? Some are paid, some are free. but why would anybody waste precious time making an app if they're going to give it away for free? well, it could just be a demo, they could have in-app purchases, they could be testing their knowledge of scriptings, etc. or they could be displaying ads within their app to make money as well. Either way, they are being driven to create content for some sort of gain.

So...how do you implement this idea into a social network, and what do i mean by "that actually, for once, involves socializing?" let me explain further. See, when i first posted this idea, it came out as a "directory for personal information" kind of thing, and people got a little hasty telling me how bad it was. However, i did not mean it this way. So here it goes, i'm going to explain it more in depth.

Let's say you had a profile on this social network. We will call it "BACON" just for something to follow along with. now, everyone knows what an Audio/Visual (AV) club is. but why is it called Audio/Visual? well, for the most part, personal computers produce and display both audio (heard) and visual (seen) content. moving on with this knowledge...

So let's say you uploaded your audio/visual content and you had 3 options:
• Private
• Friends/Specific Friends
• Public

You can either make your content private for only your eyes, or make it available to only people you have added, and even block certain people or make it available to just specific people on your list. but what about this public feature? on Facebook, public mixes with the friends feature as only friends will see your posts unless you make your profie private. public means...just like the app store, you are making your content available to EVERY member's eyes.

And yes, you can charge for your content, or provide for free. imagine youtube. you search...and receive. but imagine a youtube concept for documents, photos, blogs, even STORES! you search public content, your results are displayed and you either pay for the content or get it for free.

you may think this is insane, but think of it this way. magazines get their photos from paparazzis who sell their photos which is called "stock photography". so what's wrong with selling your own photographic masterpieces? for books, for magazines, for videos, etc. people buy images all the time. videos? yes, they buy video content all the time. video effects, video clips for backdrops, etc.

but what about making this content free? what's your gain? simple. you know how Facebook displays very subtle ads on profile pages, home pages, group pages, etc? and how google displays the yellow boxes with advertised websites? very subtle, fit with the design, yet they bring the companies billions of dollars a year. so what if you had the option to display these ads on your content pages and made money from them?

now you're thinking "what gain does this give the social network if they're paying the users?" easy. when you advertise on Facebook, you pay PER click. that means, every time someone clicks your add, cha-ching for Facebook and you gotta pay up. but you can't predict how many clicks it's gonna get, so you better have a lot of money in your pocket to begin with. but if we got users to create content that would bring people's attention to one place, we could direct more clicks to these ads, making us more money, and making the content submitters more money as well. maybe a 3% of the profits.

so, let me give you an example of the audio-visual content you could possibly create.

visual

• sell your stock photos
• sell model/pornographic images
• display your creative work like deviantart.com and recieve public opinions
• sell your stock videos
• sell model/pornographic videos
• display your creative work, or create a channel just for fun (like youtube)

not only that, but we would implement live content as well, with built-in live chat for interaction with people you don't even know, but are interested in the same things you are.

Example: tonight, i'm doing a live show just for the fun of it, so i'll make it free to thep public. it attracts 20,000 people all chatting away while watching the live feed. all private messaging, clicking ads they find interesting, etc. when the live feed is done, anyone can go over it again and watch it, post comments, click more ads, etc. now, just for submitting my content, i've made money, got my voice out, and lots of people have socialized in a live chat all at the same time. the social network "bacon" gets money, and so does the man who uploaded the content.

Audio

• sell your stock audio files
• sell your music
• sell or give away your podcasts
• do live radio
• etc.

Example: artists sell on iTunes all the time. they make money from sales, but nothing else since iTunes doesn't really have an advertising campaign in place. but this social network does. but not only are you buying from your favourite artist, you can easily click their profile and view their other public content, learn about them, etc. they're making money, "bacon" is making money, and the users are still getting what they want, which in this case is music.

don't worry, any content you purchase is not shown on your profile, it's downloaded directly onto your computer and not made as a public announcement.

Now...that whole "socializing, for once" idea. What the heck was that about? isn't a social network about socializing in the first place? well...yes, and no. Facebook, you socialize with the people in your contact list. you can socialize with people in groups, but there's no live chat or video chat like you have for the people on your friend's list. so what if this was implemented into the public as well? live chats in groups, video chats in groups, etc. that way you're actually connecting and meeting people for the first time, actually socializing and making relationships. whereby on Facebook you have to basically ask for permission to socialize with someone. when you talk to a stranger in public, are you asking them for permission to talk to them? sometimes, but rarely. most of the time you just start by a simple "hello". so here begins "hello" for the public.

so basically this is like the internet. anyone can post their content, charge, give for free, etc. but there's really no PORTAL to actually connect together and it's very unorganized. for instance, you search "dogs" on google images, but you can't choose which photographer you want to search, but with this social network, there's a link to the creator's profile right under their public content.

now, this is where things may seem a little out of hand. what about...directories? like...phot directories. email directories...seems a little personal, doesn't it? giving out your information, but people do this all the time. phone books, online address books, etc. that's also what dating websites are for. you give out your contact information and say "hey, i'm looking for someone to meet up with". check out "messengerfinder.com" where people post their e-mail addresses for anyone to contact them. i use this all the time to meet new people who i want to chat with.

also, check out "anybodyoutthere.com" where you post a simple word or sentence which is basically saying "anybody out there" can message me and discuss this topic i'm requesting. for instance, if i type in "music" and someone sees my post, we can chat about music. it gets sent to everyone, and you can even search for people who are looking to chat about music. you are looking to connect. whereas on Facebook, you connect with the people you already know. you don't exactly SEEK people to connect with as much.

finally, the ticker tape and social events. this would be on every page of the social website. not like face books little ticker toolbar, but like Google's black bar at the top o their homepage. it would be similar to Graal's news menu that displays news. it could be customised to display your weather, your notifications, etc. maybe a bunch of little drop-down menus just to get a quick peak at everything. but also a ticker-tape on the side where the social network displays their own news, such as...social events.

what are social events? well...movies for one. imagine a virtual theatre. but...the movie was free. yes, a free movie. the social network would ask for permission to show this movie for free and pay them a percentage of ad revenue. then there would be a live chat, of course while the movie plays. and have the movie open in a pop-up window to stop the lagging when you first open the page. so basically, a virtual movie theatre with a live chat of everyone else watching the movie. just a little "present" i guess that the network would give you.

but not only content-related social events, what about interactive social events? such as "blind date" where you fill out an application and are paired with matching strangers, like chat roulette and you can flip through your possible blind date candidates. also, social games with live chat where you're divided into teams of strangers, rather than just your friends and you have a live chat while you play, such as virtual monopoly, virtual chess, etc. and if you're the one hosting the game, you can make money from the ad revenue during the game. maybe even leaderboards that narrow people down to a final champion who wins something.

what do you guys think? would you use this social network? would you say "hello" to a stranger and make a great friendship in the long run? is facebook getting a little boring with the people you already know and you want to meet others you relate to a lot more? this concept of meeting strangers is what brought us together on Graal. so why not bring people together on the world wide web?

give me your opinions! :) thanks. any criticism is welcome.