This was a question recently asked by Susan Rice-Lincoln in a social media discussion on Linked-in. She posed the question of what is fueling the astounding growth of social networking sites. She wonders if it’s the fact that the technology exists so we’re simply using it or if the technology was born out of a deep-seeded emotion for people around the world to connect.

I think answers to this are tough but will vary across the demographics of users. For instance there will be a different driving force for the massive youth using Facebook to generate their online personas and extend their peer interactions outside of face to face communications at school and social gatherings. Compare that to the deluge of business users who are making Facebook pages for their B2B products and services because of the tremendous pressure to do what others are doing despite any real proven value to date.

A Facebook site for Tide? ( http://www.facebook.com/Tide ) Really?

Whatever the reason, and long after Facebook has faded away (albeit hard to imagine right now) people will still have the desire for a communication outlet which allows all the basic advantages of the current offerings: Asynchronous communication, instant gratification, curiosity of thy neighbor, and sense of belonging. The best of social software will indulge these and other traits to be successful.

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