(November 10, 2003) - In retrospect, we didn't make a large enough fuss about Monster's recent announcement. Whether this particular initiative works or not, Monster has declared its intention to launch the next wave of online job service: Professional Networking. We take the move to mean that Monster continues to innovate while redefining itself.

For months now, we've been talking to our clients about the importance of Social Software. Social software facilitates the development of relationships between like minded members. There are a score of companies currently offering one form or another of the service. A number of networks will emerge from what used to be job board or ATS companies.

We're particularly fond of Ryze. The Ryze Network fosters the development of relationships between people (more or less) around Silicon Valley. Joining is simple. We particularly like the fact that a Ryze home page looks to us like what a resume should be inside a resume database. (Here's ours.)

"Members get a free networking-oriented home page and can send messages to other members. They can also join special Networks related to their industry, interests or location. More than 200 organizations host Networks on Ryze to help their members interact with each other and grow their organizations."

Although Monster has made little clear about its planned networking service, you can be sure that you will encounter all of the services offered by Ryze.

We've always wondered why no one treats the resumes in resume databases as if they were people. Particularly in the larger companies, it's just so much data and nothing else. We've been arguing loud and long that treating people like data is a recipe for long term disaster. Social software offers companies a model for treating the members of a candidate pool as if they were really a community.

Tomorrow, we'll start a deep long look at social software. The VCs are ponying up dot-com style bucks behind this idea. It will be changing the way that you think about recruiting.

Bravo Monster!

John Sumser

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