Online shoppping is quickly becoming more social-oriented, as ebay's and Facebook's recent upgrades show. While the former is first and foremost an e-commerce giant, and the latter is the leading social networking online service, they have each taken steps that bring them closer together.
ebay has launched "ebay neighborhoods", which are micro-social networks focused on a single product or category. Inside these neighborhoods one can find blogs, guides, reviews, product searches and users- all content found across ebay. Members can join these neighborhoods and add to discussions, post photos, invite friends, write reviews and meet other like-minded people. It is also possible for users to start new neighborhoods for specific products, sports teams, hobbies or any other idea.
Facebook has thousands of applications for members to use as add-ons, but the most interesting addition is "My Shopping". This application, powered by SecretPrices.com, allows users to shop within their own Facebook user, where they can search for products, rate items they want or already own and get advice or make a recommendation on a product. A recent survey shows that many teenagers communicate with their friends while shopping- either by shopping together physically, talking on cell phones, texting or IMing. Facebook is looking to enhance the social aspect of online shopping through its social environment.
It will be interesting to see if these two leading Internet services end up competing with each other as social shopping networks, and how this will affect the rest of the online shopping world.
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