Social Networking Attracting Big Bucks

We have been hearing more and more about social networking sites,
where you can connect with long lost classmates, find your soulmate,
or jumpstart a B2B network. As a confirmed misanthrope, the Dowbrigade
has no desire to know even more people; as a matter of fact, we wish
we had never met a good number of the ones we DO know. Obviously in this,
as in so many other areas, we are in a distinct minority…..

The venture community’s latest contradiction: while some of its sharpest
players scoff at the long-term prospects of startups in the social networking
business, others are throwing millions of dollars in funding at them.

Guess we’ll have to start thinking of these social networking things
as more than jazzified dating services. Something is happening here but
you don’t
know what
it is, do you Mr. Jones…

The various flavors of social networking are based on the simple premise
that a friend (or a friend of a friend) could help you find your next
sale, job, or date. With Friendster, for example, users create lists
of friends, allowing them to contact friends of these friends, up to
four degrees of separation. On LinkedIn, users who want to contact
a friend of a friend must be approved by a mutual friend. This creates
a filter, and prevents popular people from being bombarded with contact
requests.

from Red
Herring (thanks to Mike
Walsh)