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Business Social Networking The Next Generation

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by Kevin Maney
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Sep 15 2008 9:28am EDT

Business Social Networking, the Next Generation

Kevin Maney writes: So the question is, does one Wall Street Journal reader really want to talk to another Wall Street Journal reader just because they're both reading The Wall Street Journal? Tomorrow, WSJ.com will launch its own little social network, giving readers a chance to find each other and chat about Journal stories.


There's actually a lot going on in the business sector of social networking. The old-guard leader in this space, LinkedIn, today is launching its own advertising network, claiming that it has tremendous pent-up demand from advertisers who want to get in front of LinkedIn's professional audience.

Meanwhile, social networks are popping up that are specific to certain professions, like one called Sermo for licensed physicians. If you go on Ning -- a site that provides tools so anyone can create a niche social network -- you can find all sorts of narrow professional networks. Although, some of them don't have much of a membership yet. Orthodontist.pro, for instance, has just two: founder Bob Edmonston and his cat, Eileen.

The site for Nevada journalists is a lot more robust. And I am waiting excitedly for the launch of Plumbers In Skirts.

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