The Future of Social Networking...

…lies in Facebook. Or, perhaps more accurately, in the outcome of what is likely to be a gargantuan struggle between Facebook and Google. And it is a future that will be everywhere at once.

That seemed to be the consensus last night at a meeting of the Social Media Club in New York City. The discussion featured two panelists: Andrew Weinreich, founder and CEO of MeetMoi, and Peter Shankman, CEO of the Geek Factory and founder of AirTroductions (disclosure: and a long-time friend). As usual, there was a great deal of interaction between the panelists and the “audience” – the 50 or so other attendees.

Among the points covered:

Social networking’s technology may be knew, but they are based on, and fulfill, basic needsd and urges that are as old as humanity. First and foremost among these is people’s desire to hook up. Weinreich says it’s the combination of people suddenly having digital cameras and other tools to provide rich media, plus the sudden growth of home-based broadband access that have led to the success of social networking.

Shankman agrees and says that, for all practical purposes, privacy is dead.

That, of course, touched off a lengthy debate about privacy issues. The consensus appears to be that it’s up to individuals to use a little common sense about what they put “out there” – remembering, at all times, that the Internet is forever. If you don’t want your boss to see pictures of you in a strange getup (or worse), don’t put it out there. Always assume that you’re on camera.

In terms of what’s ahead, Andrew had two predictions: first, a war between Google and Facebook over whether data and applications should be linked to a proprietary standard (Facebook) or to an “open standard” that could and would be shared among all social networks (Google). He also predicts a surge in mobile use: what you do now on your computer, you will be doing later this year and beyond on your mobile device.

Shankman agrees – particularly on the mobile part. The word to take away from this debate, he says, is ubiquity. The future is location-baed. Technology enables us to be truly mobile – and where we are won’t matter.

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Comments

[NYWebGuy]

Good summary. I also wrote up more of a play-by-play summary of the meeting at http://nywebguy.com/.