Allowing Integration is Key to any Webapp’s Success

The web, as we know it today, provides a wide array of applications and social media tools, which we all use in different ways. One day, I was feeling quite overwhelmed by my own use of the web, and attempted to draw a diagram of how my various web applications were interconnected by the flow of information between them (because drawing diagrams of stuff is so therapeutic, don’t forget). Here’s that diagram:

I won’t really explain what it all meant to me, since I’m not entirely sure anymore myself. I know I included some sites that no longer exist today, and some that I haven’t started really using yet, but was intending to when I drew that. It was pretty confusing, but I’d tried to automate cross-posting wherever possible, to save myself time and effort. Since the time of drawing that diagram, I’ve reduced my usage of the web to a narrower selection of applications. Here, you can see a similar diagram of my current social web usage:

It still doesn’t look all that simple…oh well. I use each application for its signature function, rather than trying to use one application for everything. For instance, Facebook has photos and video, but Flickr and Vimeo are better at those functions. There’s no reason to limit the quality of my photo and video service just for the sake of using fewer applications, when integration is usually fairly simple. The unfortunate truth though, is that I am doing more manually now than ever before. This is almost entirely due to Facebook’s recent homepage updates, which destroyed much of the automation I’d put in place. In spite of the resulting tedium, I’m still happier now that I’ve managed to streamline, or at least understand, my information flow significantly.

While sitting around diagramming my life may seem crazy, there’s one thing I’ve concluded from all this analysis: integration is key. Web applications, whether new or yet-to-be, will not be successful unless they make integration with other services a top priority. Don’t try to compete with giants like Facebook by including a wide variety of features. Instead, simply choose one core function, do it amazingly well, and make it delightfully simple to incorporate this function into everything else your users already do.

So how do you use social media and other web applications? How much do you cross-post? What does the flow of information look like for your setup? Do you think increased integration abilities would make applications more useful? Feel free to comment. Or just make fun of my ever-increasing OCD.