Social networking and more social networking

Thanks to Arjan in't Veld for telling me about this analysis from Hitwise.

The analysis shows the rising popularity of three interest specific social networks: CafeMom, a network for mothers, Daily Strength is a support community for those with health issues and other life problems, and Eons is the well known site for the 50-plus.

What was fascinating about the analysis was the average session time (June 2007)
DailyStrength (26.29 mins) - CafeMom (21.22 mins) – Eons (12.05 mins)
Eons is still on an upwards trajectory.

Hitwise believes that CafeMom is appealing to MySpace users as they become parents (more than 25% of upstream visits to CafeMom came from MySpace).

What we are seeing is an inevitable fragmentation of social networking sites into a few mega sites and then loads that have a special interest focus. Is being 50-plus enough of a special interest? My bet is that is not, other than for a very, very few. For the rest it will be a cottage industry. Dick Stroud

PS

A couple of new 50-plus sites have popped up in my Google Alerts in tray.
My Plan After 50: “the site serves as a portal to information on topics such as financial planning, employment and health.”

TeeBeeDee: “was founded in 2006 to provide a voice for the wisdom of our crowd – those of us who have learned from our life experiences and want to keep on growing at midlife.”