Social Networking - All that Glitters...!

Social networking seems to be the 'in-thing' these days with almost all the sites... but is it really that good? I wonder sometimes. How helpful is it? And why would someone want to waste a load of time for it online? Ya well, it’s true that the so-called "social networking phenomenon" has been all that and is, at the moment, a great platform for marketers. It's definitely one of the new ways to advertise your brand online. But it rather seems more like a fad. Things like these seem to come and go. How accurate is this really?

So it started as a cool thing, like most of such stuff does, and it's gradually being turned into the 'not-so-cool' by all that extra jazz being thrown its way. More and more companies and brands are opening up their own blogs to advertise for themselves... that’s justified? Ok, so its sending all that growth towards you, but did you know that it's also creeping up some people!

Over the past couple of months social networking sites seem to have received their fair share of 'spam', especially for those who have been using networks like 'Facebook'. They sure seem to be complaining about unwanted friend requests and malicious activities, not to mention the unsolicited advertisements.

So are we still going somewhere with all this 'Social Networking'?

It won't be long before spam becomes all too frequent in this area as well, and then what? Wouldn't the companies who are all "for" social networkings seek other safe havens then? Of course they will. Sure networks seem to be taking notice of this right now but the question remains... how long till people start dropping out of this? Honestly, if spam becomes more frequent, people will decide to leave these networks for good. Just look at the amount of friend requests you get on Facebook and MySpace alone. It’s like a hobby for some people, seriously! And it gets worse... Some people leave social networking thinking that the spam problem is over, but the truth is that the spam seems to follow you even long after you have left. And it doesn't seem likely that this 'social networking' hype will last that long as the 'in' thing, or will it?