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Is social networking just getting warmed up?
Pretty much every seasoned web user has an account with at least one of the popular social networks, like MySpace, Facebook, Hi5 and LinkedIn.
There are countless more such networks and the trend seems to be reaching every niche one can possibly imagine.
It’s a good thing because the more people work together, the faster we can achieve great things but then again, not all social networks vye to reinvent a better world as most of them are just endless streams of largely useless chatter where people interact without actually attempting to truly connect.
Not all communications have to be meaningful to be interesting for those engaging in it but it can seem like a lot of lost energy to fuel such large networks that basically amount to nothing. But that’s irrelevant, in a way, because millions of people still stampede towards these “rate me if you like me” type of social networks so in itself, there has to be a genuine need underneath all that digital noise.
So people, from the world over, are assisting to the rise of the social networks.
In and of itself, that’s big but is this a prelude to something even bigger or is social networking as we know it as good as it’s going to get?
That’s an excellent question and while nobody can say for sure, the featureset of a typical social network pretty much engulfs everything else with Twitter-like streams, blogs, forums, friend rings and chats, all packed into a single web destination which feels coherent to the user. So, featurewise, social networks pack quite a punch. Not all the features are as developed as “single application scripts” but to the user, that seems to matter very little as all they see is the feature itself and not the technology supporting it.
Social networking has everything to do with the cloud where the size and speed of hosting appears to be somewhat infinite, from a user’s standpoint. It’s probably the web 2.0 most compelling spinoff since a social network is often the place where people finally settle after looking at all sorts of other web services.
And since online social networking is generally free, millions of people just open up an account figuring it’s a good deal. Over time, some build up very rich offerings in their “social realm” and others never return after signing-up. The social networks nevertheless connect hundreds of millions of people daily for business and pleasure.
Among the niche-type social networks to watch out for, the following cities now have their own job-centric social networks: Miami, Daytona Beach, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Toronto and Montreal (with more cities to come). It’s an excellent idea as employers and workers are always looking for new ways to connect, locally.
As you can see, social networks will continue to evolve and amaze those who watch them thrive in all sorts of directions, with more power, more storage and more features than ever before.
For all these reasons and many more, it may seem like social networks have reached a plateau but in reality, they may just be warming up for a highly networked future.
Tags: social networks, social networking, online networks, people, connect, connections, online friends, myspace, facebook, hi5, linkedin, networked, jobs, business, niche networks, members, free
One Response to “Is social networking just getting warmed up?”
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This is great information! I think the diversity in approaches and explanations of social networks have their roots in social and cognitive psychology. The conception of a network and the functional use to which it is put depends entirely on the dominant assumptions of it creator and participants. This means that social networks are ‘memetically’ (Dawkins) originated and are become what the dominant memes wish them to be. There is no one size fits all.
People are getting warmed up to them as their social value increases and more people become familiar and in teh habit of using the medium.
Networking for networking’s sake might be fun initially but pretty soon there has be a purpose in the devotion of time and emotion.