Remember the mighty David that was (technically still "is") Ello, the "we're not your typical social network" social network?
Yeah, I don't really remember them either. They never accepted my request to join, which may have made me a little bitter. Ok. It made me bitter.
Anyway, Ello was our proverbial David standing strong against the mighty Goliath...Facebook in this case.
In case you aren't familiar with Ello, it is a social networking site that doesn't distribute, disseminate or otherwise share your user information with anyone. Ever.
Now, the platform had a huge initial surge in October, but was quiet in the waning months of 2014. And with this silence, other Davids have appeared to take on the mighty behemoth.
Dropon, a new privacy-champion for the people, is more like a Twitter-meets-Tumblr sort of thing? You follow "drops" (keywords) to view relevant content within those dripping areas.
Likewise, you get the chance to add drops (again, keywords) to your content. I mean, I don't see how any marketers could ever use words targeted to specific audiences to gain their interest in products, services or content...right?
But, Dropon, just like Ello, won't distribute your information to anyone! #AMIRITEGUYZ!?
And here is the thing; these outlets probably won't do this. After all, there are no guarantees with anything.
Two monumental hurdles exist for Dropon, Ello and any other "David" network popping up in 2015.
1. Provide Something the Giants Don't
Right now, Dropon and Ello don't offer enough for people to migrate from Facebook. They just don't.
The "smaller is better" is a good start, as a hyper localized community seems to work for networks like Yik Yak, Secret, Snapchat and others.
And these outlets offer something Facebook doesn't currently offer. So, they stand out and are successful for other reasons.
But you don't hear Yik Yak kicking in the door saying they can kill the giant with a slingshot.
So, right now, Dropon and Ello don't have what it takes from a functionally stand point to be the next big thing.
But for the sake of the argument, let's say each offered a piece of functionality that truly differentiated them from Facebook. Could they then win? The answer is still, "No".
2. Make Money in Ways Giants Don't
The biggest issue, for any social network, is how do they make money?
Since they aren't issuing a physical or even digital product users can purchase, they turn to running ads on their sites, as their user base is the prodcut to be sold.
Snapchat has been doing it (and it appears to be successful). Instagram (owned by Facebook) has been doing it.
The problem is, outside of gaining investor money, Facebook, Twitter and others haven't found other ways to make money. And these outlets are massive, been around longer and have much more experience operating in this space than Ello or Dropon.
Ello and Dropon need to ask this question. If David can't make the slingshot, how will he buy it?
In summary, these two tasks stand in the way of any smaller social network.
Some have conquered one area, but only a few have conquered both. And you can be sure that any social network to do both of these effectively will be offered a few hundred million by Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter or any of the other looming leviathans in this space, to simply be absorbed into the fold.
So, is this the year Goliath falls? Not likely.
But you never know, after all, there are no guarantees.