The social Web & 2007-'08

This past year was "when the Internet's potential as a transformative force expanded. This was the year we understood that the Internet is more than just another medium. It is an emerging society," reported the Times of India in an editorial, "The Year of Facebook." I agree that 2007 was the year we all saw the social Web take off, we began to see its potential for good, and we heard a whole lot about its downside. But the editorial seems to contradict itself where it says the Internet is "an emerging society" while earlier saying that "it's an extension of the physical world." Maybe it's both, but I think - for youth - it's more the latter, and adults can learn a lot from watching how young people "live" online (see "Oral culture online" and "The social Web Petri dish"). Australian IT looked at Google's Zeitgeist 2007 (the search engine's survey of billions of Web searches to determine "what's been on our collective consciousness") and reports that "7 out of the 10 hottest topics which triggered Internet queries during the year involved social networking" (the Zeitgeist is here). "A Top 10 list compiled by the world's most-used search engine includes British website Badoo, San Francisco-based Hi5, and Facebook." Also in the Top 10 were video-sharing sites YouTube and Dailymotion, Disney's ClubPenguin.com, and virtual world Second Life. As for MySpace, Australian IT adds, "one in every four US residents uses MySpace, while in Britain it is as common to have a profile page on the Web site as it is to own a dog." As for 2008, there's good and bad ahead too - see "Tech trends in 2008" from San Jose Mercury News columnist Dean Takahashi.

Trend: Exclusive social networking

Business Week calls them "online country clubs," and they're becoming a trend: not just niche social-networking sites, but exclusive niche sites. "Membership in these networks, not unlike the exclusive country clubs where the rich and powerful hobnob, is carefully guarded," Business Week says. For example, at one such site, aSW (short for aSmallWorld), "only a subset of established members have the power to invite new users to join." Going from 500 to 260,000 users in its 3.5 years, aSW's growth doesn't come close to MySpace's, but of course "big is bad" with these sites (here's the New York Times on aSW). The Independent describes another one to launch next month, Diamond Lounge, which "aims to do for the world of Internet networks what Studio 54 did for New York nightlife, and the identity of members is being kept strictly secret in order to maintain an aura of glamorous mystery." Its proprietor says 30,000 will be its max membership. Another new Web 2.0 trend: social networking for baby boomers. As Robin Wolaner, founder of a new boomer site called TeeBeeDee.com (and former founder of Parenting magazine), told the New York Times, who wants to hang out at the AARP Web site? One thing's for sure, our teens would certainly prefer it if we hung out at TeeBeeDee or trying to do so at aSW than at Facebook!