Smarter Communities Part 2 - MySpace in the Crosshairs

MySpace, the massive social networking site owned by News Corp. made a big impact in the social networking scene. It could be argued that, one day, MySpace will be seen as the godfather of social media - or remembered that way. For some, MySpace is an excellent networking tool and for others, it's a place to collect spam messages. One thing is for certain; businesses are left wanting more. Enter the competition.

ZedZone.com is a new social networking site that provides individual group websites called CommZones, based on a community of your choice. Start a community for business organizations, schools, associations, clubs, interest-based groups, teams or virtually any group with a common interest. Members of the CommZones are then able to share photos, files, communicate through group email lists and forums. There is even a wiki functionality where members can write and edit other users' files and posts. Group moderators are able to invite others, moderate forums and wikis, manage privacy settings and determine which users have administrative capabilities within the group.

First impressions indicate that ZedZone is a very specialized style of social and business networking that provides higher functionality and greater control than MySpace. Once again the idea of smaller, smarter communities is encroaching on the territory of the giant social networking sites. And for good reason. Some users have simply out-grown MySpace or MySpace has grown to a point where personalization, privacy and targeted interaction just isn't feasible.

Missed the first installment of Smarter Communities? Read about how specialization is taking on GooTube.