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	Phil's Blogservations Tuesday, February 10, 2004 Posted by philgomes 3:31 PM The Social Networking Craze: Wisdom From Ted Nugent "The Motor City Madman" said it best in the song "Cat Stratch Fever": I don't know how they do it but they sure do it good / I hope they're doin' it for free..." While riding the BART train yesterday, it seemed that everyone was reading Verne Kopytoff's piece in the San Francisco Chronicle about the social networking craze characterized by the likes of Ryze, Friendster, and Orkut. From the article: Some analysts see many similarities between this latest dot-com boom and its bigger predecessor in the late 1990s. Indeed, many social networking sites — flush with millions of dollars in venture capital investment — have proven to be more adept at spending money than making it. This is starting to sound all-too-familiar. It's as if a micro-bubble is starting to inflate, goosed along by a let's-just-wait-and-see dead-cat-bounce uptick in the economy and the "Google halo effect," which has rightly or wrongly bouyed everyone's hopes for Silicon Valley. Sure, some of these sites have revenue plans. Well and good. However, some of these sites almost operate as if they were hobbies that eventually exploded into something someone hitched their investment hopes onto. Yet another concept with zero barriers to entry. Where do I sign? "I love you, my pokey little index fund. Don't ever change." I have profiles on Orkut, Ryze, and Friendster, but I'm not sure that my life has changed due to any of them. I suppose one gets as much as they put into it and, right now, I simply don't have the time. Most people I know are similarly busy with work, life, and other pursuits. We'll just have to keep our ears to this particular rail. | HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil's demented imagination. Hell, to be perfectly honest, even Phil disagrees with what he thinks sometimes. This site has virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Clicking on a link doesn't automatically send a 1/2-cent donation to UNICEF. You can't buy, sell, auction, swap, find a date, win friends, influence people, cross the chasm, or decode the human genome using this site. You won't get free email. You won't win a free video game console. This site will not end world hunger, foster peace in the Middle East, help you smell better, teach you how to swing dance, or move the global economy from petroleum to hydrogen fuels. You'll learn a lot about this site's master, though, which amounts to a haphazard collection of strange and useless facts that pretty much won't help you at all.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This is the blog of Phil Gomes, SVP with Edelman Digital and senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research. This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. Phil currently resides in Chicago, IL. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes.com View my page on PROpenMic SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.