Facebook might get old, but connecting to other human beings over the internet will NEVER get old. If social networks go out of fashion, then it will be replaced by something that brings more intimate connection between one or more human beings via the internet.
Social networks fulfill a need to connect with others that is unparalleled to any other web based piece of software. The same way social networks built upon the portal as a more concrete way of connecting with others, the 'next big thing' will bring that level of connection even closer - if such a thing is ever created...
I find it interesting that social networks are all proclaimed to be doomed to extinction (and this is a meme that has been popping up in the media because of Facebook) yet one of it's ancestors, the message board, still persists to be an important way for people to connect with one another - and I don't hear anybody spelling doom for message boards any time soon!
I think that is actually the point of the article. Not that the concept of connecting with people online will fail but that stand alone, don't do anything for you BUT connect you to people social networks will.
I remember a friend who was an early CB radio adopter. It was so cool riding around, talking to the few other early adopters or truckers. We'd look at all the other drivers who didn't have a clue what we were talking about, thinking that they were so lame. A year later, EVERYONE was doing it, so it just wasn't cool anymore.
Social networking going the way of the CB radio? That could be a big 10-4.
Facebook might get old, but connecting to other human beings over the internet will NEVER get old. If social networks go out of fashion, then it will be replaced by something that brings more intimate connection between one or more human beings via the internet.
Social networks fulfill a need to connect with others that is unparalleled to any other web based piece of software. The same way social networks built upon the portal as a more concrete way of connecting with others, the 'next big thing' will bring that level of connection even closer - if such a thing is ever created...
I find it interesting that social networks are all proclaimed to be doomed to extinction (and this is a meme that has been popping up in the media because of Facebook) yet one of it's ancestors, the message board, still persists to be an important way for people to connect with one another - and I don't hear anybody spelling doom for message boards any time soon!