Social networks mark the Web 2.0 era we're in. You can't read tech related news on the internet without reading at least one article about social networks, and there are more social networks than ever before. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more social networks than forums. I think we could safely say that social networks have a serious value and should therefore be taken seriously. Several have been sold to big companies that often keep them alive as is, as even the big companies understand that it will keep attracting people.

Most recent news concerning social networks is the acquisition of Newsvine by MSNBC. Newsvine is my personal favorite newsrelated social network, although I started using it only a few weeks ago.

Newsvine will continue to operate independently, and serve up a mix of professionally produced, and user generated content, remaining a separate brand and entity from MSNBC.com, although content from Newsvine users could be making its way onto MSNBC.com in the near future.()

Remarkable and very interesting is that more and more newsrelated websites incorporate usergenerated content into their newsstream. This means that not only Web 2.0 and social networks are accepted, but usergenerated content is accepted and in some cases taken seriously, too. And this comes back to the old discussion : "Are bloggers journalists ?"

Newsvine is here.
My newsvine can be found here.