No stomach for another social networking site

I watched with much amusement yesterday as the comments rolled in on a TechCrunch posting by Marshall Kirkpatrick about a ….you guessed it….new social networking site. For the record, the site in question is called MingleNow, which is launching in beta next week.

Some started off with serious observations on the company’s specific business model. But then it degenerated rapidly. First there were the dorks vs. the hipsters, epitomized by Mimi’s barb: “Just because you spend nights strapped into a head set discussing World of Warcraft strategy with your ‘friends’ doesn’t mean the rest of us do the same.” Then came the enthusiasts vs. the cynics. While the enthusiasts declared that social networking was “the destiny of the Internet,” the cynics were “sick that every new social network that feels like every other social network is hailed as the next big thing on TechCrunch.” John C went as far as to predict that “ultimately, they’re guaranteed to fail. GUARANTEED.”

A spate of ridiculously positive comments (my favorite: “If you miss out on this, you’re missing out on the next Google”) prompted accusations that MingleNow was deploying shills. To be honest, I’m not sure what is more frightening: that the company was so ineptly trying to influence opinion, or that they were real people who honestly believe this stuff is revolutionary. Finally, MingleNow’s PR person stepped in, asking that any employee of the compay “please just come right out and say it.” The comments pretty much stopped there.

The last word, however, has to go to the first commenter on the story, who simply said: “not another – barf!!!!!!!!!!!”

Technorati Tags: TechCrunch, MingleNow, social networking