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Naymz offers competition to LinkedIn
When you woke up this morning, I bet the first thing you said to yourself was, "gee, I wish there were more social networks I could join." Okay, probably not. But like it or not, they're popping up all over the web.
There's a new social network worth having a look at called Naymz, which is setting itself up to compete against LinkedIn in the career social networking market. It's going to be a tough uphill battle, given how entrenched LinkedIn already is.
Naymz has all the features you'd expect, like microblogging and identity aggregation, but it also brings a few new tricks to the table. Naymz has a reputation scoring system that is powered by assessments that your contacts fill out about you, and includes the ability to watch what is being said about you online that could be affecting your reputation.
The reputation system is the most compelling feature of Naymz, but also the most troublesome; will users risk using a professional social network that could potentially paint them in a not-so-good light? Will they use one that requires them to answer a questionnaire about everyone they connect with (albeit a brief one)? Will you?
Comments
8
Subscribe to comments@davey_ladFeb 14th 2010 11:05AM
New Social Network ? I don't think so... i've been a member of namyz since Nov '07... at least i was a member until i closed my account recently. Poor
@davey_ladFeb 14th 2010 11:10AM
actually ... I tell a lie... it was March '08 when i joined, but still it's hardly NEW... god knows how long it had been up and running before i came along
Mark BFeb 14th 2010 12:34PM
I'm a little undecided on which service to use to help build professional connections...lemme check their webpages...
"Over one million people use Naymz to build professional relationships."
...versus...
"Over 60 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities"
Hmmm...
GryzorFeb 14th 2010 1:45PM
Ehm... isn't this the site that hijacks your email accounts and starts sending invitations to all your contacts, multiple times?
http://www.google.gr/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=naymz+spam
SlappyFeb 14th 2010 4:13PM
In addition to the spam concerns that Gryzor brings up, let's just note that my professional network does not include "street taggers" or "hipster douchebags" so 'naymz' is a stupid name.
Ian HendryFeb 14th 2010 10:12PM
Naymz has indeed been around for a few years already. I had a flurry of contacts join it two years ago, collect reputation points and then all disappear, uncertain what to do with them.
I wouldn't rule out alternatives to LinkedIn just because they are smaller, however. After all, networking is not an aim in itself but a means to an end. It's quite possible to find a small networking site that does more, for example, to broker introductions to new contacts that have a specific need for what you do. LinkedIn doesn't offer lead matching in this way, which is odd for a business networking site.
I hoped it would when I joined 7 years ago and it seems no more likely to do it today.
Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz
Ken WohlFeb 22nd 2010 8:29PM
No kidding about the up-hill battle. I personally think that one of the hardest, if not the hardest challenge that LinkedIn was able to overcome was getting the older crowd to embrace their network. I know many people 40 and above that barely spend time on computers, hate computers, hate adapting to technology, and yet have accepted LinkedIn and use it often. It's going to be EXTREMELY hard to convince all these people to use another network for almost the same purpose.
I think their best chance is to hit the young crowds (under 30) who are willing to try out new networks and can easily adapt. If they can attract enough young people that they will being to get noticed by others and put their name on the map. From there maybe they can grow as their young users eventually become older professionals.
The reputation thing is good and bad. What if you are the supervisor of somebody, you fire them, and that person goes on the site and just destroys your reputation in payback? On the other hand it seems like a cool idea if done correctly.
I'll definitely check it out and play around with it.
JeffMar 6th 2010 1:10AM
"Is Naymz worthwhile?" is not the only question: "Is Linked-In worthwhile?" I joined Linked-In several years ago at the urging of a business associate. I made an effort to add contacts a few years later and get recommendations. Now I have a 100+ contacts and several recomendations posted.
So I say to myself, "what has it done for me?" Nothing, as far as I can see. When Naymz came along, I signed up, but why waste my time pouring my life into another web site? The HR people and agencies don't appear to be reading a resume that I've sent them, so why would they bother with Linked-In of Naymz? They all seem to be worthless...