Way back in 1989 the World Wide Web was an archaic maze the average web user could not navigate.  It was only when Mosaic, now Netscape, released the first popular Web browser in 1994 that enabled the lay (wo)man to experience the sheer power of the Internet.

Now in 2007, more than 13 years later, the Internet has over 1,114,274,426 billion users worldwide (www.internetworldstats.com) …and those users want power.  Gone are the large, proprietary, static dot com sites that dominated the 90’s and the first few years of this millennium.

The Web 2.0 movement has arrived and has re-leveled the WWW playing field.  Today’s savvy internet users want, or rather demand, to interact and have their voice heard across the internet.  In steps the social networking revolution to fill the void.

Social networking has emerged as probably the most powerful component of the Web 2.0 moniker.  With the vast leaps in technology such as cutting edge server-software, content-syndication, messaging-protocols, standards-based browsers with plugins and extensions, and various client-applications; it has become possible to easily create innovative web-based and rich-internet applications.

Not all social networks can or will withstand the test of time though.  As Molly Wood from CNET stated way back in 2005:

Social networking is laboring under the inescapable weight of the dot-com curse: you have to find the money. No matter how cool your idea is, it's dead on arrival without an actual business plan.

I couldn’t agree with her more.  Just take a look at the sad state of affairs Friendster finds themselves in as of late.  Come to think of it does that site still even exist?  =) 

However, with the incredible success general social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook have received these past few years, it is clear the social networking business module does indeed work.  In my opinion though I feel that the general market has reached its saturation point.  In order for future social networking sites to become successful revenue generating communities, they must focus on highly targeted niche communities. 

As a web publisher and affiliate marketer I am more than pleased by how the online populace has embraced this paradigm shift towards social networking.  No longer must we crank out content site after content site to retain a stabilized revenue stream from an often volatile industry.  

By putting the power into your user’s hands through carefully researched and designed social networking communities you can eliminate the number one obstacle most online marketer’s and entrepreneurs face: 

Real.  Undiluted.  Content. 

With the vast array of free and moderately priced social networking software available in the open source and commercial market, you no longer have to be a Fortune 500 company to dominate your targeted niche.

As we head into this 2^nd quarter I find myself shifting gears towards a whole new marketing plan.  More to come on this soon….. 

In the meantime, here’s a brief list of some solid social networking software you may want to take a look at (in no particular order):

http://www.Top-Affiliate.com
http://www.FreeAdvertisingBlog.com