I just filed this story for MSNBC about the business value of social networking services. Truth or hype: can some SNSes become helpful professional tools for businesses — in particular, independent entrepreneurs and smaller companies, for whom each new personal connection is a significant business building block? Includes interviews with unrepentant compulsive digital networkers danah boyd, Frank Keeney of SOCALWUG, Noah Glass of audblog, Scott Beale of Laughing Squid, Scott Rafer of Feedster, Travis Kalanick of RedSwoosh (and, once upon a time, Scour.net), and human router Joi Ito — who said this:
Their usefulness depends on your needs and networking style. LinkedIn, for example allows you to search histories and CVs in your network — it's great for finding people who work in a particular company, or who have worked with someone you know. It's also an interesting way to find references for people or companies you're getting to know.
I think email is broken in a serious way, and SNS is trying to address some of the issues associated with that breakdown. These networks may get it right and really change the way we do business, but we're still at the beginning of the development and evolution curve.
