The creation of on-line communities represents one of the most important points in the relation between clients and companies in our days. The sense of belonging to a group acquires a essential role, in a relation that has to be accepted as a benefit to both sides.

However, one thing we are certain about the implementation of a social network and even about other types of communication - these cannot be an imposition to the client, but more and more a customer desire to be associated with a brand. “We should always be invited to enter people’s lives”, told Saldanha da Gama. On this topic, Teresa Lopes, One to One business developer, believes that “it is a common mistake to think that it is easy to be at the social networks just because they are free”.

A company’s effort in a social network “should never be to gather a lot of people”, but to create a “group of people that give a little bit of themselves to the brand”, she added. According to French tourism board manager in Portugal, Sylvia Frango, the most important is to “raise interaction between the company and its clients”. This can happen for instance, “by suggestions that the company does in her social media webpage, the users comments and vice-versa”.

Therefore, “the goal is not mass communication”, but to rely “in the experience that the clients have with the brand, to provide good experiences in our page, in theirs or with their friends”. This relationship has mainly the premiss of offering value to the client. The company gives advantages to those who communicate back  such as “providing a service, through applications or widgets which can be useful”, Patrícia Saldanha da Gama added.

In order to fulfill these requirements and concerning the integration of different platforms, websites will have to evolve. “Or the websites evolve or they turn out to be the traditional media”, she concludes. Even though, Teresa Lopes adverts that “the websites will continue to be very relevant, because that’s where information is being directed to”.

So... what’s the right track to follow? Due to these necessary changes, the future will depend more and more on bringing social networks advantages inside websites. Patrícia Saldanha da Gama still added, “an internet community is not exclusive of existing social networks, I can have one created and managed by me”.

All in all, two things stand out in the development of an on-line social network: it all depends on the purpose for which it is created and on the boundaries defined by the user. The networks will evolve until where customers let them to.