Why is it that every website I visit at the moment seems to be either a blog or a social networking site? Not that there is anything wrong with blogs or social networks, but it does beg the question where will it all end? Every other day a new social networking or Web 2.0 (see wiki link for more info) website pops up, offering a ‘new’ way of socialising – or, as we cynics see it, a new way of harvesting user generated content?

Soon sites like FaceBook, MySpace, Bebo, etc, will have saturated the user with social networking facilities. Does anyone still use Friends Reunited? Back in their day, they brought social networking to the masses with cutting edge technology. But without the push to evolve and reinvent itself, the site soon exhausted its fifteen minutes of fame.

To me, the future for users socialising on the web needs to reflect real time and real life. In other words, they are choosing to socialise less on a generic level and focusing instead on tighter, niche groups of people who share a common interest. Many new sites are recognising this tangent and opting to target an interest-specific audience with a model that caters directly for their needs. I want to focus on three new sites that fit into this brave new world of focused social networking and that exploit web 2.0 methodologies.

I must admit, this is quite a nifty site. Though not original by any means, the delivery is refreshing and honest. There are no advertisements (bar BookRabbit’s own ads, which seems fair to me) and they appear to actually have a valid business model…They sell books, and this is a free service they add to help their customers in the book buying process.

The site is also pretty easy to use - while searching for books, you get access to reviews, discussions and author videos (if submitted). From a community perspective, you get to see who else owns the book, read their reviews and see what else they are reading - ideal if you are looking for inspiration for your next purchase.

What is unique about BookRabbit is the ability to create Bookshelves. Simply take a picture of your own bookshelf and upload it. This is an ideal opportunity for automation, but as it is, you have to manually draw round each book and associate it with the actual book from the catalogue. Thankfully, this is a painless process once you get the hang of it, while I hear talk of an OCR reader that will eventually scan the covers and automatically assign your books to those in the catalogue.

Once you’ve created your bookshelf, BookRabbit claims to match your collection to other members’ bookshelves, enabling you to compare tastes and discover new books. In reality, I have found this match system a bit ambiguous. I have tended to be matched with anyone who has any one of the books on my bookshelf. A more context based approach is required, with a minimum match criteria. Otherwise, if someone has just one SF book on their shelf, and the rest is romantic fiction, then that to me is a bad match! Maybe the match should be weighted, so you get a list of matches based on relevance, but this is a wish list item, not a show stopper.

Like all networks, the real worth is measured by the size of the network. BookRabbit is still very new, and while I would like to see more reviews, discussions and content, it is definitely a fast grower.

On the reverse page, Harper Collins has created its own social networking tool - not for readers but for writers. Authonomy is a site for published and want-to be-published authors, reaching out to get appraisals of either WIP or completed manuscripts. The idea is simple. You upload your manuscript to your Authonomy account and let other people read it. Members can then comment, review, critique your work and even rate it on a points’ based system.

There is clearly a market for this service given the lengthy response times of agents/publishers, and there is nothing like the immediate gratification of the World Wide Web. But - and this is where the site potentially runs into trouble – how do you establish the copyright and publishing rights of what may already be considered published work? Harper Collins states: “We really see no particular reason why a manuscript that’s been showcased online should lose any of its value to an interested publisher.” But this is far from confirmation. I read this as Harper Collins has no problem, but I would be very interested to know from other publishers if this would hold true across the board. The idea, though, is a good one, and if it results in a pre-validated slush pile, then agents and publishers can only rejoice.

And staying with a sense of literary awe, I give you Wonderlands, brainchild of fantasy author, Deborah J Miller. Wonderlands is built on the popular social networking platform Ning. Ning enables anyone to create a social network similar to MySpace. Members interact with other likeminded people on any subject, and also have the ability to create blogs, message one another, add photos, chat in the forum, and upload videos.

We all know that speculative fiction fans, authors and industry types are tied together by a very strong sense of community. What Wonderlands does is focus on the Fantasy genre and invite everyone to get involved. As Deborah explains, “We set up Wonderlands as a place where Fantasy authors, artists, readers, fans etc, could meet virtually and benefit from one another’s viewpoint of the genre. We also want to reach Fantasy buffs who are not already part of the genre community”.

Wonderlands is a great opportunity for all members of niche communities to interact with each other and not get bogged down with the vastness and generic nature of the likes of Facebook and MySpace. It allows all of us to celebrate fandom, whether new to the scene or not, and to see it as a friendly, active, and vibrant social environment. I also think this goes someway towards shrinking the class divide between the vocal vampires of the web and the more timid, average web user.

No matter where your own interest lies in the world of genre, be that reading, writing or fandom, there is sure to be something to appeal in the rapidly expanding world of social networking - although I would rather call them niche communities. I think these niche communities are destined to grow stronger and prove truly useful resources for us all. All that’s left for us to do is jump down the rabbit hole at BookRabbit to find our next purchase, dig out that old manuscript for publication on Authonomy, then rush off to Wonderlands to tell all of our fellow Fantasy fans/friends all about it. See you there!