Here’s some professional grade features that the top Social Networking sites use to stay on top:

1.) Ajax based tag suggestions - Fluther.com

This is where when you start typing something into an input box, a little drop down window immediately appears which basically shows some suggested tags which it pulls from it’s database of existing tags as you type each letter. The more you type, the more accurate the suggested tags get.

Fluther.com uses this feature and I’m sure I’ve seen it elsewhere I just can’t remember specifically where. The reason why this feature is very useful is because most SN sites use tagging but few of them if any give you any suggestions as to what you might mean. For instance, if I’m posting an article about “web design”, I sometimes add: webdesign, web design, website, websites, web-design, web development, etc. you get the point.

This feature makes me feel more comfortable using the site - less unsure of whether I’m maximizing my return on time. For instance, in the case of the tag keyword that I mentioned above, I am always unsure of whether I am adding the best tags, over-tagging, under-tagging, etc. So I don’t know if the most people are having the great opportunity to see my site.

2.) Get users to promote for you - Stumbleupon.com

I noticed a day or so ago I was messing around in Stumbleupon and I noticed a box that said this:

“[this guy] doesn’t have the Stumbleupon toolbar installed! Click here and advise him to install it and start stumbling!”

So basically, they’re playing off the idea that people are easily convinced if a suggestion seems genuine. I’m sure there isn’t any indication that the suggestion to install the bar was instigated by Stumbleupon themselves - making it seem more legitimate. This is an example of how a company uses a small feature to promote their product in a very clever and sociologically based way. Less marketing BS and more professional grade thinking.

3.) Sell limited positions as category sponsors to marketers - Blogcatalog.com

This is a way that sites can monetize their traffic and not get too spammy. I agree with this tactic in that it provides a service to the users by providing ‘validated’ listings as well as makes the continuation of site services more viable.

I admit, it’s absolutely a derivation from the heart of the user generated/rated content movement but I think it’s still relevant enough and provides enough of a service to keep it on board. Think of it like eBay’s sponsored listings or any other form of marketing - the guys who are successful (meaning the guys who are doing the right thing to remain successful) can afford to pay for the advertising and thus have been moderately ‘validated’ even though it does provide an avenue for spammers.

4.) Force “legitimate” friendships - Stumbleupon.com

Let’s face it - none of us have more than 200 real friends. Who has time for all the drama anyways? MySpace is notorious for this kind of abuse. Tom has 90 billion friends for god’s sake. I understand the concept but allowing that kind of abuse waters down it’s meaning a BIT.

What Stumbleupon has done is this: they allow 200 friends max. In order to have a friend, you first have to find another user and add them as a friend (of course). But you’re not actually added as their friend sort of - you’re added as a “fan” of them. You’d be like their groupie basically… unless they add you as their friend, at which point you become “mutual friends.”

You can have unlimited people who are fans of you, but you cannot have more than 200 combined mutual friends and people who you are a fan of. This forces you to be choosy because it’s better to have more mutual friends than people you are a fan of. I hope this makes sense.

To a more strict extent, LinkedIn really tries to keep out the friend abusers. This actually is open to moderate gaming but for the most part, their friend system is very tight.

5.) True integration with other web services - Facebook.com

Facebook’s new application platform has raised the bar - way up. I had a vision of every other SN site turning their heads in unison this May as Facebook.com basically dropped trow and gave them all the goat.

I think there were 700+ unique applications available about 3 or 4 seconds after Facebook made the announcement and the library has been growing ever since. There is some abuse already but Facebook seems to have very tight control over their own system so it shouldn’t end up being a huge problem. Anyways, you can basically do anything with these apps - I have my profile set to auto post every one of my articles to my profile which in turn shows up on the front page of all of my friend’s news feed pages. Pretty basic & very effective.

We will continue to see the emergence of features like these in the future. Although MySpace is still ranked higher, Facebook’s popularity is growing at an increasing rate greater than MySpace.

6.) Allow filtering content through friends - Digg.com

I know Digg is technically a “Social News” site, there are some features which are important. Digg actually has a bad reputation for being run by a hand full of people who all Dig each other’s stuff exclusively. That doesn’t mean the ‘friend’ system they have in place isn’t useful. What I have done on Digg in order to get fresh content filtered more specifically for me is this: find an article you like, look at the profile of the person who submitted it, then look at the articles they have submitted in the past. If it’s up your alley - friend them.

What happens next is that when you’re on any category page on Digg while logged in, you’ll see a link to view “Friend’s activity in the last 48 hrs” If you’ve friended the right people, you’ll find a pretty specialized list of upcoming stories.

7.) Have a fricking sweet looking website - not MySpace.com

I’m talking professional grade and geared for socializing. Pay attention to detail, but keep the design simple & fresh. Concentrate on usability if you want to have a fighting chance against your competition.

Also I think allowing users control over their profile’s appearance is a great idea so long as it’s done properly. Less control than MySpace but more than Facebook. Embedded videos & songs are cool, but please don’t set the audio player default to auto play for god sake.

Check out these examples of great looking sites:
http://www.fluther.com
http://www.virb.com
http://www.last.fm
http://www.linkedin.com