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We will be in Seattle for almost a week in August for the Gnomedex conference. This will be a great event in the Emerald City to bring together tech/new-media companies. If you are attending and are interested in discussing funding/strategic partnerships/M&A please let us know! We are currently filling up our calendar in Seattle for that week. See you in Seattle!

Om Malik wrote an interested article about Ning, its high valuation and the commoditization of the social network.  The most interesting part of the article explained:

There have been much smarter people than me who figured this out a long before I did. One of them, David RD Gratton recently channeling Thomas Vanderwal, recently wrote “Beyond communities of Interest, communities don’t exist.”

Much like content, the real value of a network is the people in it

Technology enables an “interest community” to engage, share, interact, etc., but without an existing expression of interest, the technology is value-less.  Technology makes community interaction more efficient and more powerful.  Also, more importantly, technology makes that network measurable.  Billions of social networks are hidden, and technology uncovers them and shows their value to the world.

It’s absurd how much interaction occurs on a daily basis

If FaceBook, LinkedIN or MySpace could capture ALL of my daily interaction with friends, business partners and family, my interaction on the digital side would be enormous.  Social networking sites merely uncover (and facilitate) existing social needs/interaction.

Content: Digital Media as Interaction: Social Networks

Is this a good metaphor?  I don’t know, but in the same way that digital tools have enabled a more robust media experience, social networks have enabled a more robust social experience.  The winners will differentiate themselves by focusing on specific communities because differentiating on the technology side will become increasingly difficult.