TribalWorks

Operation Sports is a leading online community dedicated to sports video game enthusiasts.  As a member of the community myself, I got an email announcing the launch of their own social media site called the OS Arena.

As soon as you login you’ll immediately gain access to:

• your own customizable trading card
• stats tracking and your own OVR (Overall Rating)
• your own blog
• friends lists
• video albums for all of your videos from EA Sports World, 2K Sports Community, Youtube etc.
• screenshot albums
• comments and messages on your chalkboard
• customizable backgrounds allowing you to give your Arena its own unique style
• your own unique address at operationsports.com/username/

And this is just the beginning. Over the coming months we will be adding exciting new features designed to expand your sports gaming experience.

This brings up the question about whether or not an organization should try to build its own social media site (as it is in this case) or tap into existing media such as Facebook or MySpace.  The answer is, it depends. 

In this case I think it made sense for OS to go ahead and build their own since they have become a key online rallying point for the sports gaming tribe:

• Operation Sports has been around for about 10 years and they have built up a substantial member base (There are almost 800 member online at this moment)
• OS focuses on a specific interest, thus they quickly became the number one destination for enthusiasts.
• The existing site already had very active discussion forums thus enabling them to more safely take this risk

A critical mistake many make is building the tool before understanding whether or not it is relevant for your tribe.  Often times using existing media may be more appropriate.  Ultimately, you truly need to understand your tribe before proceeding.