I often get frustrated about the song and dance presented by the likes of Facebook, Bebo or myspace. People seem to this that social networks are this new thing…in reality they have been around for ages…just that now they have more functionality and customization open to them, but really, are they all that? I mean, what would you consider an online Forum? what about Gumtree? arn’t these effectively social networks as well?

I’m not denying that social networks are any good, because they are, what a great way to stay in touch with old school friends and make new business contacts. BUT, when you consider the amount of time lost spending your time playing poker on facebook or poking people, you might notice that there is the potential to get irritated by the constant attention you need to give to your facebook profile, now I don’t know about you, but I’ve got plent of other things to get on with than spending hours on facebook each night. Add to this that when i’m on facebook I’m not looking to shop, I’m looking to get in touch with friends, you could argue that Facebook has a captive audience, but theres not much you can do with this audience, their not going to be very receptive to buying, as thats not why they are on facebook in the first place.

If you’re looking for evidence, you simply need to look at the effectiveness that affiliates have experienced when using the Facebook display advertising system, results were piss poor to say the least, with some pretty appalling conversion rates.  Now, this isn’t to say that Social networks are crap of affiliate marketing or advertising, however its simply a case of targeting. For example, events work really well on facebook as do fan clubs, myspace has pioneered how we approach music,but the bottom line is, social network with all its song and dance is a double edged sword and you really need to be careful and take measured and considered steps before leveraging off social networking sites. n this context, its a case of HOW you use it rather than if you use it.