Thing 19. Other Social Networks

An inspection of Web Junction, Ning, and Gather, leads me to believe that these Social Networks offer the same things that MySpace and Facebook offer, only these three networks tend to be a little more focused primarily on professional work-related issues and less on socializing in their outlooks. The information presented in each of the three, Web Junction, Ning, and Gather, would take me at least a month each to inspect thoroughly--the information in Web Junction is library oriented but almost overwheleming in scope! Ning was the least attractive of the three. I was not impressed with their group organization. I did sign onto Gather and inspected it more thoroughly than Ning. The news and publishing aspect of Gather is definitely appealing to me and something that I might use in the future, both as a librarian and as a writer. They all offer the same things: an ability to interact with others, to post pictures, videos, and podcasts. Social networking is turning into a big business!!