The problem with a social networking site like Facebook is that users tend to have people added as friends they don\u2019t usually interact with or never interact with. Also, users may \u2018know\u2019 their Facebook friends but apart from a select group of closer friends, they are not usually interested in what many have to say in their posts. As a consequence of this, <\/strong>if a user may see his friend make 5 posts a day, none of which really interest him or incite him to make a response, but if that friend does eventually make an interesting post, the user may not spot it \u2013 this is likely to be true with Facebook since its EdgeRank algorithm places \u2018stories\u2019 on user\u2019s newsfeed based on how much they interact with each other amongst other things. If people were to make friends based on common interests instead, they will more likely interact with each other.<\/p>\n There is also a lack of platforms which help users make friends based on all of their interests, not just one; and any sites that do do this are primarily dating sites.<\/p>\n The Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n Facebook is a social network for connecting people you already know or people you\u2019ve met and based on the concept of triadic closure, it tries to connect people with weak ties using their strong ties by saying you have mutual friends.<\/p>\n Instead of connecting people based on who they know, a new social networking site could connect people based on their interests instead, with users talking about their interests instead of general happenings in life. In other words, it will be a platform for making new friends and interacting with them based on what they have in common. If done well, it could act as an additional social network alongside popular ones such as Facebook or Twitter.<\/p>\n There is an increased chance that two people will become friends if they attended or attend the same school, college, university, workplace or even an event. The interest-based social network could help new students to a university for example, find new friends who share the same interests \u2013 an alternative to joining multiple clubs or societies and only staying with a few of them.<\/p>\n Some more possible features:<\/strong><\/p>\n Similar Sites\/Apps<\/strong><\/p>\n There seems to be no social networking websites with the aim of making friends which focus on people\u2019s interests – anything with a similar concept all seem to be dating websites. However there are social networking sites\/apps which focus on one interest, e.g. cooking, gaming, photography, etc. Below are some examples:<\/p>\n http:\/\/pinterest.com\/<\/a> is interest based but lacks real \u2018friend-making\u2019 features.<\/p>\n An interesting read: http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2012\/02\/18\/beyond-facebook-the-rise-of-interest-based-social-networks\/<\/a><\/p>\n Challenges and issues<\/strong><\/p>\n In this second ideas post, Harry describes some ideas for an interest-based social network. The current situation \u2013 Why do we need this? The problem with a social networking site like Facebook is that users tend to have people added … Continue reading ![\"interest-based](\"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/hive\/files\/2012\/03\/interest-based-idea-image.png\")
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