Observer observes social media

Today’s Observer has an in-depth look at social networking sites, with special attention on MySpace rival Bebo.

[Bebo founder Michael] Birch believes we are only at the beginning of things. Social networking sites ‘are becoming much more of a utility over time rather than being a pure gimmick’, he told the website Online Personals Watch. ‘They’re actually providing a genuine benefit. For example, Bebo is a cultural phenomenon in Ireland. A Beboer contacted us from Ireland and told us that before Bebo, the folks in his small town were not getting along. Then everyone independently joined Bebo, and got to know each other and now there’s a community spirit in the town pub that wasn’t there before.’ In other words, young people are exploiting the ideal way of communicating with each other: socially awkward and self-conscious in the real world, fluent in the online world.

There’s nothing new in this piece, but it is worth reading if you are still trying to wrap your head round the online social networking space.