THE CONVOS BLOG

Trendwatching recently released an article highlighting their top 8 consumer trends for 2008. The comprehensive article is definitely worth a read to catch up on the trends noted above.

One of the concepts that caught my eye was a sub-trend in the Online Oxygen trend called NetHoods. Essentially, it points out the growing release of niche social networks that carry more of a real-world focus. These days, it seems as though everyone has a Facebook, MySpace, and Linked In account that they maintain. This concept points out that in 2008, expect to be a part of additional networks that are more closely aligned to your activities as opposed to a central location for everything.

While I find it exciting to see both niche networks and social network setup services coming to light, I'm troubled by what this means for the amount of time I spend checking in with or maintaining each network. Networks for neighborhoods, buildings, and even apartment floors are already starting to pop up here in NYC. But do we really need more Facebook clones with a hyper focus? If I have any more information to keep up with online, I'm going to need to spend less time doing, more time checking.

For Convos, we've designed Groups to allow you to easily setup and participate in similar, real-world focus networks but with more of a focus on productivity. With an interface and email system designed for productivity in consuming information and managing Groups, our belief is that any of these hyper-niched networks of people is better suited for a scalable Convos Group than a social network.

What do you think?