meet Astrid.
until not too long ago, astrid had a myspace. her parents, neil and cecelia set up the profile, wrote a few entries on behalf of astrid, uploaded some pictures, sent it to some friends and family, friends list started to grow - even duran duran were friends but mostly real offline friends and family from all over - 25 friends in total.
in short, they were having a laugh and a half.
and then one day they logged in only to find out that astrid’s profile has been removed without notice. apparently,
“Use of and Membership in the MySpace Services is void where prohibited. By using the MySpace Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 14 years of age or older; and (d) your use of the MySpace Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation. Your profile may be deleted and your Membership may be terminated without warning, if we believe that you are under 14 years of age”.
i don’t get it. i tried to understand the reason for myspace to remove that profile and i just don’t get it. it’s against their business instinct. (i emailed them but i’m not expecting a reply - will update if I will get something)
clearly, it wasn’t astrid’s profile but her parents totally legitimate socializing tool and a great way for them to record/document her first years and to stay in touch with friends and family from the UK and abroad. where is the moral problem? where is the legal issue? where is the risk?
forget terms & conditions for a second, i’m thinking from a pure business perspective, it’s a huge wasted opportunity for myspace (mybabyspace.com?) or any other social networking. as far as i was able to search there is no social networking site for babies (the term social networking site sounds too career-driven for me, like linkedin - we need a different name for socialising network). there is a niche in this market that is under explored.
young parents want to show off their baby. it’s a modern(?) social instinct. how is it possible that nobody (yet) realise the business opportunity here?
currently you can simply have an online picture album or start a blog for your baby but that doesn’t have the elements of friends’ list and the lightweightness of myspace/bebo etc.
if i were them (or any other sns) I’d start today a new category/channel, (babybebo.com?) develop some really cool tools, dead-easy-to-upload (pics/video) and facilitate a lovely service for young parents to create profiles for their babies helping them to show off and keep in touch with all their friends and family.
i wouldn’t recommend to any babies related brand (nappies, food etc) to do that as that will put many people off but i can clearly see a utility/service based partnerships with potential brands.
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