No Business in Social Networking

Social networks are a good thing. Everybody should have one--and everybody I know does, in some form or fashion. But whether you need an online social network and, particularly, whether you need one whose primary purpose is separating you from your money is another question entirely.

I am talking about the LinkedIns, Friendsters, and Orkuts of the world. All of them, presumably, plan to monetize their online communities by charging people for introductions to people they don't now. These things have become darlings of the get-rich-quick-on-the-Internet set, who talk about these services like there's really money to be made selling introductions wholesale.

Now, when a dating service like eHarmony, does this, I understand the pitch: Pay your money, find a mate (hopefully). But what about a business social network like LinkedIn—which seems to eventually want to charge you maybe $10 to introduce you to someone that a friend or friend of a friend of yours already knows?

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This may be an OK, even good deal for high-value introductions, like job placements (hiring or looking) or getting your business plan in front of some venture capitalist with more dollars than sense. But what else will you use it for? And if you can't afford to use it, how much effort will you put into managing your contacts?

Already, I've been so overrun with people I really don't know begging to be on my LinkedIn friend list that I've stopped answering those requests, lest I inadvertently offend someone. On the other hand, a by-invitation service, like Google's Orkut (named after its founder, whose first name is Orkut) has a much better ratio of wheat to chaff. There are people whom I admire that actually asked to be on my Orkut list. (You have to be invited to join Orkut in the first place by another member, which is different from services anyone can just sign-up for).

Not that Orkut has really done me any good. I guess it's nice to know I can presumably call on any of these friends for a favor, but I already knew that about three-quarters of the 50-ish people in my Orkut community.