Om Malik writes:
Social networks are now cropping up like mushrooms after a monsoon, most of them slight variations on the MySpace1-Facebook2 model. Unfortunately that trend has pigeonholed the notion of social networks3 into a web-page paradigm, a virtual Rolodex that grows so big that it lacks context, and hence relevance.
It is time to rethink the whole notion of social networking, and start thinking of it as a feature for other online activities. Already, we see companies like Affinity Circles4 and Social Platform5 turning the social network into a commodity, by offering turnkey solutions. Thats just the start. It is time to start thinking beyond the web-page paradigm, and think of social networking as part of a larger experience, one that starts to blend the best of online and offline worlds.
