This chapter in "Design to Thrive" is all about the 'S' in "RIBS": significance. Howard discusses here how the importance of significance plays into the success of a new site. The consumer wants to feels as though they are involved in something worth their while because it is prominent or important in their community. The power of significance can be the difference between success and failure in a site. Facebook, for instance, is a site that demonstrates significance. Why do people get a Facebook? Because their friends have them. It's all about being involved in something other people care about, too, so you're no just wasting your time on something no one else is interested in. Facebook became a phenomenon because it started out so exclusive, only students of certain schools could be a member. Then it expanded from certain schools to all schools, then to all people. This initial exclusivity launched it into stardom and then once to clientele was secured, it allowed everyone in. The minds behind Facebook knew how to attract consumers, and then how to keep them: by keeping it relevant and thus significant.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are websites like MySpace. While MySpace certainly wasn't, and still isn't, a failure, it's not quite the gold mine that Facbook is, when it was once poised to be. That's because it failed to adapt and grow with its consumer, and they found something that suited their purposes better. As Facebook went on the rise, so MySpace began to fall. In this instance, one sites success became another's failure because it took its significance away from it. MySpace isn't significant in the wake of the tour de force that is Facebook. This particular aspect of RIBS became the difference for both of these sites, even if in two very different ways.
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