I read recently that it’s not always best to be first to market. The more I think about it, I’m pretty sure that’s right on target. The tweet or post (can’t remember from where) cited Classmates as an example. Think about it. Classmates.com was one of the first (if not THE first) social networking sites available. You can read more here. Children of the 80′s & early 90′s signed up in masses so we could stay connected with our friends. We used it to plan our reunions and try to reach people.

Facebook Changed Everything
While a student at Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004. You can read the story at Fast Company or the Wikipedia entry here. Eventually, they did it bigger and better. It was easier and it was free. They continue to add features that make it easy to stay connected.

I wondered how many people are using Classmates these days. I threw the question out on Twitter and these are just a few of the responses I got:

• Classmates is so 80′s
• Did anyone ever use Classmates?
• It was very difficult to navigate and they tried to make money off subscriptions. Adaptation could have gone a long way.
  
• Always interesting to see a multi-use platform derail a dedicated platform — I’m thinking iPhone for e-book reading.
• Classmates.com? Are they still charging money for that crappy service? Haven’t checked in on them in a long, long time.
• Classmates used to be the only player, but never seemed useful for connecting

Easy, Quick & Nice
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Companies that want to be successful today and in the future must make it easy and quick for their customers to do business with them. And they have to be nice in the process. Classmates? Not so much.

I visit Classmates about once in a blue moon, when I get an email notification that someone connected with me there, or for some such reason. I never try to engage people in conversations on Classmates because it’s too hard. I have to jump through too many hoops as do they. It’s not intuitive. Instead, I show those people how to connect with me on LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter and here on my blog.

Now I’m also pointing them to Facebook. Believe it or not, there are still some people who haven’t yet experienced FB. They’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how many of our classmates  they can connect with on FB, and how easy it is!

Recently an old high school friend put together an impromptu meetup (rather than a full blown reunion) using Facebook’s event feature. Easy enough. Quick enough. Nice enough. Oh, and free. Today, I received an email notification Classmates that someone posted a comment. Another high school friend mentioned not waiting for an official reunion in order to plan a get together. I suggested she try Facebook’s event feature. I’m guessing it won’t take long for her to see how Facebook has surpassed Classmates.

Adaptability is Huge
Whether you’re first to market or not, adaptability is huge in today’s competitive environment. How can you change things to make it easier for your customers, members, readers, etc.? How can you give customers what they want, faster than before? What steps can be eliminated because it doesn’t always have to be done that way? How can you use technology to deliver the same or better service, quicker?

I’m pretty sure if Classmates had figured out how to make it easier for people to view a guestbook, send a message to a friend, or upload photos, we wouldn’t be asking,

“Classmates Who?”

How can this apply to your business, blog, chamber or church? What outcomes need to be streamlined to make it easy, quick and nice? What adaptations have you made in the last six months? And if you haven’t made any, what are you plans for adaptations in 2009?