Once it hit the tipping point of essentially being a free personals site, the dynamic changed. A lot of users dropped out or became inactive. There was a lot of porn, and porn-ish stuff. The forums had the same tired threads arguing about the same tired topics. So, yes, BlackPlanet is still around, and claims over 17 million members. Yet I don’t know too many folks who still use it. And it doesn’t have nearly the respect it once did.

Let’s say in 2020, when you have a multimedia avatar (likely several, depending on the context), in place of once was first your nick, then your homepage, then your blog or MySpace page… And the kids in 2020 will snicker at the interactive vid feeds that discuss the primitive roots of “social media,” because at that point, media and society will have merged.

Yes, I read too much Neal Stephenson and William Gibson. But that’s the path we’re on, right? It helps me keep the evolutionary steps in proper perspective. Just baby steps.

http://www.revenews.com/jimkukral/archives/001520.html

I’m on that age verge and I’ve tried a number of the sites mentioned above. While there are a number of my peers participating, there are just as many who are either inactive or altogether not involved. People recognize the limits of the superficial connections on the site, they are afraid of the privacy concerns and information they make available to potential employers, and frankly most people get to the point where the silly comments and popularity games are no longer rewarding.

Myspace has the feel of a high school cafeteria and all the games associated with that image. But we all grow up eventually.