New York Post :: Social Networks Get New Friend$
By Ben Silverman
...DID you hear the news? Social networking is the next big thing.
Many in the technology media have latched onto the idea that social networking will be an economic force in the future. Never mind that social networking has been around since the dawn of time and that the mob has really been the only organization to take it to its proper heights. Social networking is hot and there's plenty of money out there to prove it.
Friendster, which if you listen to the hype will revolutionize the way we interact in the same way the Segway will make the automobile obsolete, recently scored $13 million in financing. Friendster has also, according to published reports, spurned a $30 million takeover offer from Google and somehow managed to secure a $56 million valuation.
Friendster is, in effect, a combination of reunion Web sites like Classmates.com, dating Web sites like uDate.com and online classified and community properties such as Craigslist. If you want to decrease the number of bookmarks you have, Friendster is the way to go. But where Friendster really comes in handy is if you want to network your way into someone's pants.
Like the plethora of dating Web sites out there, Friendster is little more than an excuse to check out guys and girls. The one thing that Friendster offers that dating sites don't is a feeling of intimacy.
Unless someone is your verified friend, you can't connect with him or her. But once you do connect with someone, his or her network of friends opens up to you. There's apparently safety in knowing that the random person you hook up with is a friend of your friend, or your friend's friend.
But networking organizations and Web sites have been around forever. They fail or succeed based on the level of activity by the participants. Many people who join networking organizations stop participating once their needs are met, or once the organization fails to meet their needs.
Craigslist has undoubtedly been the most successful experiment in online networking. On any given day there are plenty of people willing to sell, buy, trade or simply give away everything from cars and pets to sex and Mets tickets. But Craigslist's mostly noncommercial spirit has been largely responsible for its success. People like the fact that you don't have to pay to use the service or give up any privacy.
Friendster is currently free, devoid of annoying ads (it has some ads, but no pop-ups) and pretty private. But venture capital firms don't throw down $13 million to make people happy - they do it to make themselves money. And like the most successful social networks, it's all about money...
K-Collector