Looking at Web 2.0
In Technology Review’s article, Social Networking is not a Business, they ask some hard questions about the future of the social networking industry, especially it’s profitability.
The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship says this about the article,
The articles note that social networking is the web’s fastest growing application, yet few firms are making money in the process—at least not yet. Even popular sites like Facebook and MySpace continue to lose money….[The article] suggests that social networking sites might capture some of online advertising market but remains somewhat skeptical. In the end, it suggests that leading social networking sites might have a future that looks less like the next Google, and more like struggling or defunct early Internet firms like CompuServe, Netscape or AOL.
This is especially important for small business owners who are trying to use social networking sites to find potential customers and build their reputation as an expert. If these sites are on shaky financial ground, you may find that you have a limited amount of time to use this tool before they simply begin to disappear (or become monetized in such a way to become unpalatable to their users).
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2 Responses to “Looking at Web 2.0”
Category: Internet Marketing
Tags: social networking , web 2.0
The “Web 2.0″ is a new frontier… and as such, there are risks and gambles associated with every path. To hang your hat on any one channel for your marketing and brand development is always a poor business plan. – However, to leverage a current fad to help ‘jump start’ your business is a great way to get the ball rolling, just don’t plan your retirement around fads and trends!
13 Aug 2008 at 1:38 pm
Even if social networking sites are only trends, the big sites like Facebook are not going away anytime soon. Facebook, which started as a site only for college students, is gaining popularity with younger and older age groups, and many users check their Facebook pages multiple times every day. Surely Facebook’s popularity will peak and drop eventually, but for now, the site should play an important role in marketing plans for relevant businesses.
13 Aug 2008 at 8:40 pm