Will Social Networks Define Who We Are?

Posted by Anthony LaFauce on January 21st, 2008 12:29 PM

Erick Schonfeld over at TechCrunch today is reporting that Russian investor Finam has backed social media firm Badoo to the tune of $30m and 10% controlling share of the company. For those of you who don’t Badoo is a social network where people can pay to be popular. Most of the networks 12.7 million users come from Europe and Latin America.

This news comes in conjunction with MySpace launching a Russian version last week. As more and more social networks begin to cross international lines will how we group our social patterns will become very telling? I am also interested in seeing the geo/ethnic deployment of many of these social networks.

I mention ethnic deployments because I find it interesting that most new media social networks build their user base on traditional pre-existing social networks. When I lived in Mexico all my Mexican friends were on Hi5. When I attended college all my friends were on Facebook and when I got my first job everyone hounded me until I joined Linkedin. Heck, all my old Navy buds and I in a ‘Navy only‘ social network.

As social networks become more entrenched in our everyday lives will we see them segment into more standardized forms of social groupings? Will we someday say, ‘oh… your in that social network?’ Will we begin to group people by social network even when we are off line, ‘hi my name is Anthony and I am member of…’

Do any of you out there think that our online social persona will be a mandatory modifier of our psychical social persona?

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Josue Sanchez 2 years ago 1 point
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The future may be in social "meebo's." We may have our own favorite social platform, but also want to keep in touch with our friends who sing in different sites.

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Geoff Livingston 2 years ago 1 point
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Especially if initiatives like OpenID take hold. We will be unable to escape our online persona, good and bad. It will become intertwined with brick and mortar. Consider how many employers already search online about their potential employees....

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Raoul 2 years ago 1 point
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I have a healthy amount of disdain for social networks, and every time someone begins to identify themselves with one, I wonder if they've really grown up. I associate them with the cliques of high school, or with the fraternities/sororities of college. Anyone so tied into a social network that they can't begin to imagine the Internet without it hasn't matured yet.

Social networks are nothing more than platforms that allow you to do various things. I might also add that many of those "things" are exaggerated and overvalued. It's important to see them as such, and nothing more. You can use them, but the moment you identify yourself with them, just as some might identify themselves with a brand, I have to question if that person can think independently and has developed a healthy personality.

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