One of the things I am exploring here is the idea of online community and social networking. I am no expert, by a long shot, but I think few people really are. Let’s face it the field this encompasses is changing so rapidly that even thinking you may have an understanding today guarantees nothing for tomorrow. Who would have predicted facebook before it started? Or text messaging as a communication medium.
My sense of what is happening is that social tools are in such a state of flux that our common social portals are all temporary phenomenon. Most products, companies and even us have a limited shelf life. Things are born, may do well, jump the shark at some point, and then senesce . The timing and speed of this process is very quick in techology related areas today. Where will facebook, twitter and other popular portals be in five years? How about ten? I think they will become a minor part of things, if they do not disappear altogether.