Social Networking - Linking Like Minds

Social networking has come of age in the recent past. It would be unfair to say that dot-com dreams died during the Internet stock bubble burst. Some have thrived through it and have come out clean and unscathed. One such website would be Amazon.com. Amazon.com is the king and probably it will remain the undisputed leader of the dot-com era in the time to come. The home of Robot Co-op is nothing but a mere whitewashed room, and Amazon, the online retail giant, owns this tiny company. Moreover, in this whitewashed room Josh Petersen, the former Amazon director clicks away on his laptop. They have taken a bold step in the sphere of social networking. A seven-member group has spearheaded the creation of a web community, which is based on sharing personal goals globally.

The Innovation

This website is called the 43 Things.com (www.43things.com). Surely, the name is inviting and it will definitely raise your curiosity levels. What do they do? They invite people to make a list of their personal and professional goals and put it up on 43 Things.com. In return, you can also get information from other people regarding their personal and professional goals. You can also get information from other people about how to go ahead and accomplish these goals. The attractive part is that it is a free service and has already started attracting a global following of 12,000 people in two months.

This is what social networking is all about. 43 Things have done something that is innovative and will enhance social networking on a higher level. 43 Things include Web logs, and links to Friendster, LinkedIn and other sites, which are an integral part of the virtual community. The process is simple. You can go online to find a real estate agent or a soldier from another country. You can find a date that stays across the Atlantic. You can even chat up with a plumber who stays halfway around the world and shares the same passion for belly dancing.

The social-networking companies like their dot-com predecessors have generated a lot of hype in terms of promotions and have received millions of dollars as venture capital. Although now the field has started getting over crowded with Friendster and Google's Orkut to MySpace, tribe.net, Craigslist and the local startup Judy's Book. Everyone is vying for an inch of space and these sites are ready to provide the best services possible. Since the Internet is a rage and people spend more time online, the software developers are working round-the-clock to invent new ways for you to connect with other people on a global scale. With a constantly evolving technology, social networking is not a dream anymore.