Social Networking: Bane or Benefit

Moriya implies an interesting question in her comment. What are the business implications of social networking?

Time magazine did a recent piece on the phenomena. Why Facebook is the Future. Overall it seems that the media is trying to explain what just a few years (months) ago it decried as a fad. At the same time, sites like MySpace are desperately trying to position as 'not just for kids anymore.'

Like many folks, Moriya points out the concern for privacy (or as Moriya says ‘seems to be…a little intrusive’)

1) Did you know that nothing on the internet goes away?…ever! That’s right, websites are essentially archived. So I can find those pictures you posted of the wild night in Cabo doing body-shots with the University of Wisconsin fencing team long after you have deleted them. Check out The WayBackMachine - basically an internet version of The Library of Congress. I find it amusing to look at older versions of our website – kind of like finding pictures from high school…what was I thinking?

2) Did you know that the US Government can monitor any land-line or wireless phone using a system called ‘Echelon’ top screen for key-phrases, phone numbers, and voice-patterns. Read the recent article from The Week magazine about ‘America’s Most Secret Agency.’

The reality is that privacy is dead and agencies like the NSA have their sights set on – you guessed it – adding Social Networking data to their analyses.

In regards to the more interesting part of the conversation - Do social networking site’s represents the next wave of how business gets done? - I used to openly scoff at the notion that LinkedIn provides any value other than as a high tech contest to see who has the biggest network. The jury is still out for me and to date I haven’t really extracted any value from my network but I have been impressed lately with the growth of the community as well as the useful features being added on a daily basis. At this time I know of many folks using the site to post jobs as well as ask questions related to subjects not in their core area of expertise.

It seems that sites like LinkedIn are susceptible to the ‘Fax Machine’ phenomena. Basically, this means enough people have to have them (and remember to use them) in order for any real value to be derived. That said…like fax machines…past the point where adoption reaches the point of critical mass, the usefulness of that technology tends to grow exponentially rather than linearly. In case you are curious, here is a link to My Profile.

As always, please post your comments. Do you use sites like LinkedIn for business purposes? How have they helped you prospect or position your services? Where do you see Social Networking sites evolving with respect to business? What are the disadvantages of this medium?