I think the building of any social network has to be done with careful research. Speaking for myself, I think we started off simply recreating one environment, ie, our website, and placing a mirror image onto a social network. But even though I realize there will always be some cross-over in content, I stopped cold in my tracks because the research is showing a different audience in many cases for this community… And of those who are the same – their use of this site is different and their interests while there are different than when they come to our website.

In the end, it’s all about meeting the needs to the audience you are trying to reach by designing the right product for the right space. Your points on your previous blog entry on Now Is Gone are very helpful…

Along the lines of mobile technology – you should check out SquareLoop (www.squareloop.com), which uses geotargeting to send alert messages. They are a SpectraRep (www.spectrarep.com) partner in that AlertManager integrates fully with their solution… both are CAP compliant.