What value do users derive from social networking applications? Neale & Russell-Bennett

Article here.

I knew I had to applaud this undertaking when I read the section where they tried to define "cool."

Dutch researcher Carl Rohde describes cool in product terms as “inspiring and attractive … providing empowerment” to the user. Cool products help people “to bring out the best of their capacities and abilities.” (Parvaz, 2003)

I rolled my eyes until I tried and struggled to define what makes a Facebook application "cool." I kept resting on "something popular that a lot of my friends use" (otherwise why would I use it?) but that doesn't really explain how it became cool. So let's stick with the provided definitions even though it's decidedly uncool to define cool...

Applications are tough. I thought about those that I pass on and those I don't and realized that I've never sent an application invitation. I don't like when I receive invitations and I don't think it's cool to bother my friends with it. The only application I've used is Scrabulous and even then I didn't have to invite friends -- I could see who had the application downloaded so I could invite participating friends to play.

Well, now I feel pretty smug. My advice: don't bother with the applications because I don't think they're cool and there's no magic formula for what will be popular and what won't. Except this thinking isn't very useful when I consider purchasing ads or trying to develop applications for Facebook for my company. Given its popularity, everybody wants in on the Facebook game.

The lists of value examples and features were no doubt interesting -- but the managerial implications weren't particularly useful. I could have told you without conducting a study that you should encourage users to participate in application development, ensure source credibility, and develop an easy-to-use application.

The bottom line for me: these are great data points in a field that hasn't been nailed down (and probably won't be for a long time) and at this point, anecdotal data ("it's fun to compare people!") is probably the best that can be done.