When asked this question, Colin Wright wrote:
Social networking represents the latest stage in the Omnopticon (everyone watching everyone) stage of social interaction that modern societies have entered.
Within social networks, you are able to represent yourself however you like, manage your reputation and personality, and create niches that weren't there before.
What social networking means to me personally is a way to reach audiences that might be unaccessible to me in real life, whether because of age or socioeconomic status or geographic hurdles. It's also a way to explore and find out more about different ideas and cultures...it's the water-cooler section of the Internet.
It also represents one of the final stages before the 'Overlay Internet,' which will eventually result in a second layer of reality...you will be able to look at a restaurant and it's menu and specials will pop up. You can look at a store and shop without entering. Or you can look at a person and see what kind of music interests them, if they are single or not, and read their most recent blog entry.
Social networks are a boon to some, an annoyance to others, but an interesting sociological experiment regardless.
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Now I think the most intersting part is his acknowledgement of social networks as an experiments. Just as advertising and any other kind of marketing should be viewed as a test. So should the social media landscape.
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