With government trying to figure out how to deploy the tools and applications of social networking – the likes of Facebook, wikis and such – it’s at least interesting to stumble across a suggestion that social networking itself could turn out to be just another fad.

 

A survey of 13,000 people in 17 countries by the research firm Synovate (www.synovate.com) found that fully 58 per cent of them were unfamiliar with social networking.

 

Plus: More than a third – 36 per cent – were losing interest in online social networking. That included 47 per cent of Canadians polled.

 

Steve Garton of Synovate acknowledged the universal truth that social networking is by and large keeping youth on board. But overall, he said, “It turns out social networking is not taking over the world. Well, not yet anyway.”

 

In the short term, the findings merely suggest that “not everyone is pokable,” as e-Marketer put it. At a higher level, though, they also point to a plain requirement for more research by the public sector on the potential of social networking applications: Can they become part of the fabric of routine community consultation, as some e-government apostles preach, or will they merely become a series of behind-the-scenes intranets for assorted tech types?

Tags: Facebook, Social Networking, Wikis