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Comment by js3309 | Hacker News Reader

AIM and ICQ are not "social networks". I can't ever imagine my parents using AIM or ICQ ever. But they are on facebook. Good luck getting them switched over to another service.

Facebook has 500+ mil users. Most of them, non techies.

Friendster actually proves my point...they shot themselves in the foot. Facebook exists because of mismanagement by Friendster.

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Isn't it conceivable that the next social network will start as a place for the younguns to get away from their parents? If you were 15, would you rather be at a party with all your friends and everyone's parents and grandparents and aunts and weird cousins or at a party with just your friends?

If that's the case, then the feature set would be focused toward a younger crowd, rather than the privacy features and such that people discussing a "Facebook killer" usually mention. I wonder if it could possibly be a step backwards in some areas.

4chan anyone?

Yes - 4Chan is the new FB. It's deliberately unappealing, it's the new generation. I liken Mys[ace/bebo/friendster/facebook/linked-in/4Chan/whatever to bars and nightclubs. They can get popular for a while, even wildly popular, but eventually they go out of fashion. Those 'pubs' with a slower cadence like Linked-in will take longer to die, but will also never reach the dizzy heights of the biggest 'clubs' like mySpace and Facebook.

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