Access to information is free, but access to each other is priceless.
Whatever you make, whatever you sell, be sure to emphasize its social function.
Below is a comprehensive list of critical questions to ask yourself, your team and your organization. Each question is worthy of its own discussion, so I encourage you to use them individually as conversation starters, icebreakers and thought experiments for your team.
Think of it as a social audit for your product.
How does it help people meet each other? How does it connect the disconnected? How does it make people feel less alone in their misery? How does it create a platform for sharing emotions? How does it deliver meaningful interactions in addition to helpful information? How does it create a community where users can support each other?
How does it turn people into leaders, curators and impresarios? How does it help people build an online legacy that increases in value daily? How does it allow people to publish their evaluations and recommendations? How does it let people share moments with each other so they can experience things together?
How does it deliver a healthy dose of gamification? How does it give people bragging rights and increased status? How does it create more breathing the same air experiences for people? How does it foster collaborative learning and shared knowledge? How does it give people an excuse to get the hell out of the house for a few hours?
How does it make it easy for friends to stalk each other? How does it curate situations that bring discovery of cool new things? How does it make it easy for people to complain and say thank you? How does it reward people who are good at introducing art to others? How does it make it seamless for people to express themselves?
That’s your social audit.
Now your company can do more than just sell products.