Comments on: Why Grown-ups Don’t Care About Social Networking

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:55:00 +0000

I just don’t think that ANYONE, particularly someone who falls into the “adult” category, using any current criteria (middle managers aren’t on Facebook) to determine what the youth of today will do in the future. I’ll use my own perspective as an “adult” musician.NO ONE could have predicted that kids would use the internet to download music and movies for free and not care that it was illegal and virtually everyone said that it was only a small percentage of people that do it, yet it is re-inventing the way we think about entertainment.It is also worth noting that I know many people – 20, 30, 40 and even 50+ somethings – who communicate almost entirely via email with friends in other cities – many of them made via the internet. And I’m not talking about nerds here. I’m talking about my mom and her friends and friends of mine who beg me for help with their computers.I don’t think one “portal” will be the center of the future universe any more than AOL thought it would be. But, I don’t think any of us can really know what the future will bring in that regard.

By: Susan Getgood

Susan Getgood — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:26:00 +0000

Those of us that are in or into technology spend a lot of time thinking about the infrastructure that people will use for online social networking. The rest of the world — people not all wrapped up in this debate — simply go where their friends are, to do whatever it is we do together. This is of course true both on and offline. This is why it is hard to predict a single “winner.” Facebook has an interesting platform, but it is essentially “flat” like a college facebook. Interaction is layered on, but the initial impetus was aggregation and affiliation. Second Life on the other hand is certainly not flat but IMO its anonymity precludes real community. And so on.

By: Matthew Moran

Matthew Moran — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:54:00 +0000

Kent,Funny…in a sad sort of way… I was having a similar conversation with a professional organizatoin. It is a conversation I have been having with numerous clients and other “professional” peers.I wrote about it hereWhile I seem to accept most connection request that come across my LinkedIn and new Facebook profile, I send the connector a message indicating that I rarely, if ever, logon to the site. As a “communication” medium, I find it too disjointed, loud, and far less discerning than my hyperactive, easily distracted mind can utilize. And I keep telling people that I hate receiving an email that tells me I have a message. I know I have a message, I just got an email – oh, that wasn’t the message, it was the messages message.