Is it me or has social networking been played out? It seems that every magazine or newspaper that I read makes mention of some local social networking start-up company looking to make millions online just like MySpace and Facebook. There are social networks designed around music, soccer and even shoes!

I personally can’t keep up; even though I feel like I need to be on-top of all things ‘online’ related. I’ve never been a fan of MySpace because the user-interface is just butt-ugly but Facebook has attracted me, and likewise LinkedIN. Otherwise, what can I do on these specialized social networking like ShoeTube which can’t be paired down to function on Facebook / YouTube?

Granted I’m not a student any longer, and now as a papa I find myself with even less time to engage with social networking sites; therefore my view is certainly slanted to us ‘old’ folks. Isn’t there a side effect to trying to socialize on several sites as opposed to just one or two sites? Doesn’t the plethora of social networking sites reduce the depth of content to just superficial ‘pokes’ rather then real meaningful socializing?

Help this old guy see the light, show me what I’m missing out on.