2 things matter in this space:

1. language (e.g. "CIO" is a term/abbreviation in the English language for "chief information officer") -- and very few people understand the degree to which language is a TECHNOLOGY -- indeed, due to ubiquitous education, language is also a ubiguitous technology [or at least: as ubiquitous as it gets])

see also Wisdom of the Language

2. speed: don't slow me down, don't waste my time, don't let me watch an hourglass when I want to see results.

see also niche search is difficult for big companies

:) nmw

I agree with Jeremiah that the “…low barriers to entry…” is the cause for plethora of white label social networking vendors. The trouble is that it is so easy to develop an easy-to-use platform that some other business aspects get glossed over.

One of the underlying causes for the upcoming market consolidation will no doubt be the inadequate marketing (e.g., messaging) and influencer outreach (e.g., IT industry analyst relations). When SageCircle was looking for a social networking platform it was really hard to find vendors that clearly differentiated themselves and their products. After awhile the words all started looking the same blah, blah, blah. This is all too common with startups that want our advice on their “analyst problem," which we rapidly determine is really a messaging problem (see Should tech startups invest in analyst relations?).

The social networking platform vendors that survive the market shakeout will no doubt be ones that have strong marketing in addition to their technical chops.

Carter Lusher, Strategist, SageCircle
Carter [at] SageCircle dot com

Click for SageCircle’s blog on the IT analyst landscape and analyst relations (AR) best practices.

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"The platforms are being used for everything from marketing and branding to internal enterprise use." The only info missing here is by whom, and to what effect.;-)

Social networking platforms facilitate brand/customer engagement, but more importantly, customer/customer or member/member engagement.

This is the core value of these platforms and this core value will continue to drive implementation and ongoing utilization of social networking platforms.

There may be consolidation of vendors on the horizon, but those with a proven solution that provides proven ROI will prevail, grow and prosper.

Many so-called white labeled solutions are not really white-labeled at all sharing databases, putting ads in whether desired or not, inserting a character or name into the URL. If you count the "real" white - labeled solutions available, you will find that there are really not that many.