A normal website such as an e-commerce site, News & Events site, Travel site or a generic portal like Yahoo, the core of the website is a product/platform that is sold to people. A e-commerce site can act as platform to Buy/Sell/Trade, a Travel portal offers access to bookings, News & events portal provides information material.

In an Online Community or Social Network the focal point of the website/business is the user and user generated content. A social website generates reputation by the quality of users/user?s content present on the site just as a portal gains reputation by the quality of product offered to website users.

The core values for such websites are:
A) The focal point of the website is the user generated content and the user himself.
B) Quality of users/user generated content is the quality of the website
C) Users/Moderators can make or break your website
B) Use Product cleverly as a tool to attract right people to use the site and increase activity.