The standard design philosophy currently being used in many social network systems is to encourage the user to sign into the site and duplicate functions like exchanging messages in different formats. For many users this is too much a waste of time in that most important things are carried out by the user in their current message environment. The addition of groups that social networks finally recognized (they existed in some systems in the 70's) as a key valuable addition to communication systems will spread and be better integrated in message services. I also note that some social networks are making it easier to handle social network functions without signing in and leaving your normal environment. Like many of you I currently am in 4 different network social systems and within groups within those. It gets to be a real mess when one cannot easily move through the different environments by being able to do the same function in one way in one place.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Information Systems, NJIT homepage: http://is.njit.edu/turoff