Social Overload!

The impending collapse of social networks. While it is a harsh assessment, it’s is a reality. With the number of social networks ever increasing and the amount of time people and companies have to participate remaining the same, networks are bound to suffer.

If you read new media blogs, news sites etc, they frequently report on these networks. Number of users etc etc … What would be an interesting stat to see … How is growth sustained and what % of users actually stay on to become active participants.

Looking at the networks I personally participate in and the list is ridiculous. Starting with the ones I use the most:

• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Kiltr
• AngelList
• Google+
• Chime.in
• Pinterest
• Orkut
• Tumblr
• Path
• a variety of blog platforms and the list goes on.

All of these networks are vying for a users time, time that in all respects becomes more and more valuable as work loads, social networks and personal commitments increase. How then do the networks survive or are they building a unique offering or application in hopes that they get bought out.

Looking at the latest to make a big splash, Google. Will it become another leading social network or will it become another Orkut that primarily serves a niche market? Only time will tell. The growth numbers, while impressive, fail to tell the whole story. What would be interesting is … How many of the 60 million+ users actually participate on a regular basis?

I’m sure in 2012 dozens of new social tools, applications or items of distraction will appear and at the same time many more will fall, be bought out or never see the light of day on the net.

Social media has effectively changed the way we live, do business and has impacted our lifestyles. Both good and bad has come from social media and with the ever increasing selection, both the users and some networks will suffer from the Social Overload.Yet another quick blog post and I really should get back into doing these on a regular basis. However both social media and other commitments have me going in many different directions. Going to make more of an effort in 2012 to post more entries here and over at Thunking.net …

Happy New Year, Look forward to seeing your thoughts on the subject.