7/1/2008
By Diane Haddad
Social networking sites may be the next frontier for genealogy.
Popular
social networking sites such as MySpace <
myspace.com> (110 million users at press time), Facebook <
facebook.com> (more than 67 million users) and Bebo <
bebo.com> (40 million users) may be the next frontier for genealogy software.
A Pew Research Center survey found that 22 percent of Americans use social networking sites. This is an audience ripe for viral marketing campaigns — those that "piggyback" on an existing network. Companies can promote their products to site members by creating social networking applications (SNAs), profile add-ons that let members do anything from sending other members virtual gifts to building a family tree. More than 95 percent of Facebook members have used at least one "app," as site members call SNAs.
Facebook launched its SNA platform in May 2007, and now offers members a dizzying array of 15,000 apps. But until recently, developers