Manipulating a Network to Force Strong Ties and Deliver Relevant Content
Social Networks are typically designed to help people discover new content—whether they want to discover it or not. What if there were smaller more intimate networks though, networks vetted for content relevant to their user base. Could a network like that succeed? A social sharing site titled Quibb is trying to achieve that very goal.
The founder of Quibb, Sandy MacPherson, was growing concerned with a problem many face every day—content overload. She envisioned at network in which users could access content relevant to their professions, as well as receive legitimate feedback about who was viewing their shared content. This is a fresh idea in a market saturated by networks that rely on mindless and non-intimate social interaction. Quibb users are vetted for legitimacy and compatibility. There is an application process that involves identity verification to ensure that the users are in fact professionals and not robots. If users follow people on other social networks such as Twitter, and those people are users of Quibb, then the users are automatically connected on Quibb as well.
Sandy’s goal is to provide a higher percentage of relevant content to the user base. This is something Facebook aims to achieve with their algorithms and friend suggestions—but Quibb is trying to achieve this by ensuring there are more strong ties, or at least a higher chance of forming strong ties. By strong ties, I am referencing friendships (in this case on a professional level) in the user base. These users are bridged by their professions. They all work in similar fields, and thus they all demand similar content. If Quibb continues to vet users and ensure they receive relevant news, a network would theoretically be manipulated to consist of mostly strong ties.
Source: http://www.cio.com/article/2984960/social-networking/new-social-network-aims-to-find-news-tech-pros-really-care-about.html