Interest-based social networking

I'm probably not supposed to say this since I work for a company that's trying to draw attention to the importance of blogging, but I'll say it anyways: I'm bored with blogs.

Don't get me wrong--I still believe the blog is an essential medium of communication that needs to be taken seriously by anyone who wants to engage with people in our society. However, in the end, it's just another medium, along with radio, television, newspapers, magazines, etc., to be used to communicate with the masses. I think it's legitimate to say that blogs should be treated with the same level of respect as other forms of mass communication but to say that it is significantly more important seems like a bit of a reach.

The technology that I've been fascinated with lately is this thing that I'll call "interest-based social networking". Some examples of websites I'm referring to are Flickr, Upcoming.org, and Meetup.com (I would be very interested to know about other sites that fit into this category). These are sites where people go to share photographs and talk about them (Flickr) or where people go to find out about events in their area and even post their own events (Upcoming.org). They meld together elements of interest-focused sites (e.g. Webshots, Pollstar) and social networking sites (e.g. Friendster, Orkut) to create a space where people can pursue their hobbies and meet people at the same time.

Social networking sites such as Friendster and Orkut were all the rage a year or two ago, but does anyone actually still use them? You might get a date or two out of using those sites (if you're lucky!), but in the end, there isn't enough on those sites to have people coming back to them regularly. Pure interest-based sites such as Webshots or Pollstar may be great sources of content but it still leaves people feeling lonely with no one to share their photographic and musical experiences with.

Interest-based social networking sites draw people because of their content but keep people because there is also a community element to them where they actually encourage people to meet up. The friendships formed over these sites are usually more meaningful than those from pure social networking sites because there is a common interest over which they are formed, whereas most people seem to use pure social networking sites primarily for finding potential mates. It's similar to how many people would rather spend their time volunteering or with an activity club where they can do something they're interested in and meet both friends AND potential mates rather than hit the bar scene where they end up competing against people who might otherwise be friends for the same potential mates who'll probably reject them anyways!

Many people, especially the growing number of single 20 and 30-somethings, are longing for connection and community. While Flickr is bringing together shutterbugs and Upcoming.org is bringing together people interested in going out to events, I believe there is plenty of room for innovation in helping connect people with all sorts of interests.