Social Networking Critics: New People, Same Arguments

Articles such as this one, “Pitfalls Ahead for Social Networks?” from InternetNews can get me really riled up sometimes.

There are still a lot of critics of social networks. It might be different people, but it is always the same arguments. They are trying to answer new problems with old solutions. How well does that work?

Valid concerns? Yes. Unsolvable Problems? Absolutely not.

When search came along in the late 90’s everyone wondered how they were going to monetize it. They tried to fit old solutions to a new problem by turning them into portals. Then….the google guys came along and put a new solution to a new problem. We all know how that turned out.

The internet was made for this type of communication. Will some social networks fail? Absolutely. That is the natural cycle of any industry in business. But the ones who will fail are the ones who will fail to innovate (the “me too” or “myspace of”). In the end there will be the big guys, and there will be a lot of niches. Once again, this is the landscape of any industry.

I firmly stand behind my belief that social networking is the present and future of the web. Drink the kool-aid with me

[tags]Social Networking, Social Networks, Niche Social Networks, Critics, Online Communities, Brian Balfour[/tags]