The Emphasis in Social Networks is on “Social”
MarketingProf’s Ann Handley points out that social networking sites aren’t just skewing older (over 50% of MySpace users are now over 35, and let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of age 50+ members of Eons), but younger too.
Especially with children and teens, there’s ongoing concern that an over-reliance on online interaction will make individuals socially inept. Except in select cases, and where additional underlying factors also play a role, I don’t believe this is a prevalent problem.
However, there’s no question that right now technology doesn’t serve as a completely satisfying replacement for face-to-face interaction. And where people continue to feel a void, they’ll choose to either supplement their online activities with live ones, or take a break entirely.
The continued success of social networking sites, therefore, will likely lie in their ability to combine the online and offline worlds.
“The continued success of social networking sites, therefore, will likely lie in their ability to combine the online and offline worlds.”
Well said, Andrea. Social networking sites aren’t inherently bad & don’t retard the ability to interact face-to-face. But at the same time, the most successful ones will encourage elements of both the offline and online….it only makes sense.
Thanks for picking up the post!
Hey Andrea! I am a college student at Auburn University. I am a big fan of facebook, and I definitely agree with you that it is possible that an overload of social online interaction could probably make individuals socially inept. I definitely love playing on the facebook, but no online interaction can ever replace face to face interaction. There are definitely times when I am content to play on facebook by myself, but nothing can compare to face to face interaction. I have actually never heard of the Eons social online interaction, but I assume it is comparable to facebook or myspace. I never realized how many adults were on myspace. I guess that means facebook is something I will never grow out of.