Social Software Services

Scott Rosenberg comments on the hype in the Venture community around the Social Software Services (such as Friendster). He notes that having page views, unique visitors and time on site are in no way a guarantee for a successful business.

Pity we did not figure out how to turn a successful service, as measured by visitors, etc. into a successful business model. Maybe they should ask a subscription? Or does success always equate to free? But when do you change to a paid model? What are the switching costs for a user, when there are many competitors in the field? Maybe they should make the switching costs as high as possible and then hope that a lot of people stay.