Social Networks moving to Niche Audiences

Check this out: Social Networking Goes Niche

This is a Business Week article discussing the evolution of social networking and the invariable downfall of "come one come all" social networks that supply big advertising to undefined mass markets. More and more, people are moving towards social networks that are geared towards their interests. Though ourtbeat definitely gears toward the niche group artists, some may say that it doesn't settle down on a niche enough. I'm definitely a fan of the sites that gear specifically to musicians, or painters, or filmmakers (are there any sites that gear to filmmakers?), but I'm not quite sure those sites are completely conducive to the networking purpose. In my opinion, artists of all genres have to come together to work with one another on various projects. In other words, where would a musician be with out a venue to host his or her music? And who creates that venue? An industrial artists designs a stage, a graphic designer makes the fliers, a party planner supplies the atmosphere, a sound engineer works the speakers and output, and possibly a filmmaker hears the music and puts it in one of their films. At ourtbeat, we appreciate and artist's need to work with other artists for the greater good of art. Because of this, we are created for a niche audience, but we don't want to narrow our member base too much, for fear of taking away necessary opportunities for everyone.


read more | digg story