If you read the postings on the interwebs, it can get confusing when trying to draw a hard line around web 2.0 and social media. The two seem intrinsically linked, which I think is a problem. Consumers don’t like confusion (typically.) Following most booms of new technology (or often, just old technology spiffed up with new buzzwords) there is always a cycle of consolidation where consumers “choose” with their time and their wallets.

But if EVERYTHING is social, and social is web 2.0, is web 2.0 automatically social and does that make everything 2.0? Holy crap. Here is where it gets hilarious (and by hilarious, I mean confusing.)

Twitter is social. Twitter is web 2.0. Twitterpost or Tweeter are web 2.0, and allow you to post to Twitter, but are not inherently social because they are just software. SO…it’s possible to be 2.0, but not be social. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to be social without being web 2.0. Blogging is both, Twitter is both, Facebook is both, Myspace is both, and so on.

But now, if you’re paying attention, every site is “social” too. New website Sazze is adding a social component to consumer product reviews. Which isn’t different than Amazon or Yelp really, only that the design of the site is a little more 2.0.

Which I failed to mention before - web 2.0 also defines a style of design. Amazon might have set the tone for social business models, but they aren’t often mentioned as a 2.0 company partly because their design is pretty 1.0…and because they were actually a web 1.0 company. So maybe that’s the real reason, but still, I’m on a roll.

I guess I’m sick of the grey area that is social media, web 2.0, and just general websites with new buzzwords.

Where is good consolidation when you need it.

Virb is a social network aimed at people who “create things”. It’s great - it offers the advanced customizability that other social networks don’t which, of course, is most important to the demographic Virb covets. Sarcasm aside, I really like this network. I like music - especially indie bands - and Virb is a haven for these folks. My friends list is currently limited only to t-shirt brands I like, cute girls with odd pictures, artists, or indie bands whose music I actually like. Something about Virb makes me want to be selective. Which is odd for a social network where friends are currency.

But I tried an experiment on Myspace that didn’t work. For those that remember, my goal on Myspace was to brand myself as “cool” according to whom I befriended. The sad thing is, while I was able to amass some fantastic friends on Myspace (Kevin Smith, Ryan Adams, Barack Obama) it clearly didn’t matter. Myspace was the exception to my social experiment of “selective friending” as a way of defining my personal brand. It works on other sites, and Virb is one of them. I get hit up by bands every week, and some are good - so I friend them.

Check out Virb.com for more, and if you sign up for an account - send me an invite if you think you are cool enough to stimulate my personal brand.

Everyone must love Twitter. Twitter is a Web 2.0/Social Media institution. Twitter is like the Saturday Night Live of social networking - it has it’s low seasons, but somehow it always manages to find relevance again.

For the record, I love Twitter. I loved it when I had a Blackberry because it was the only fun thing I could do on my Blackberry. I love it now, because I have a Twitter widget on my Netvibes homepage and can twit whenever I’m working without feeling terrible about it. Why is Twitter so great you ask?

Really? Have you tried it? Really??

Twitter is like haiku blogging. You get limited words/characters and it’s more about - “what are you doing RIGHT NOW” - than really telling a story. The beauty of Twitter kicks in only after weeks of monitoring your friends twits and realizing that despite your reading their blog or knowing them from work, Twitter has actually given you better insight than anything else about who this person really is (or thinks they are.)

It’s brilliant. It’s stream of consciousness blogging, without the space for embellishment.

Of all the social media ideas to come since Facebook, Twitter will be the one that lasts and that will join the list of Facebook, Myspace, and blogging as social media concepts that business try to conquer (or at least adopt.)

Follow me on Twitter. From time to time, I actually twit in haiku.

People waste time. (See Perezhilton.com, Halo 3, nature photography, romance novels, etc.) But at a certain point the entertainment value wears off of everything. Video games build their business model around this. Movies, television and radio may have trained us to feel this way. Something that starts great and interesting and new and exciting before long is trite, played out, and stale. So some day very soon people will begin asking - what am I doing with my time on Facebook (or Myspace, Bebo, and Friendster?)

Why do I believe this? I have friends on Pownce, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Kluster, Behance, and other social networking sites (some that I’ve completely forgotten about.) I’m not alone. There will be a time, very soon, where the social world begins to consolidate. When that happens there will only be a couple of “entertainment” based networks left standing (my money says only one survives.) Facebook has ceased being the “new thing” and people will quickly figure out that most of the Facebook apps suck and start asking “now that I’ve tracked down my pals from 5th grade, what the hell am I doing here?”

To all the folks who think I’m just going negative - I hope you’re right. I hope there is some awesome wicked sweet widget or app that will sudden have me changing my tune about Facebook. Maybe I will come up with it myself - I love being contrary, even when I get to contradict myself. But I see the fatigue coming, and I hope Facebook is anticipating this. Google will always provide a valuable service by letting the world search for anything - but now that I’ve reconnected with Jill Smith from my 9th grade gym class I’m left wondering what I get back for all this time I’ve spent on Facebook?

Am I one of many to soon close the Facebook? Do I signal the inevitable downfall of Facebook, or do I just not have any interesting friends?

Despite my complete boredom with Facebook right now, I went ahead and joined a new social network called Kluster. This is not social networking as defined by Facebook and Myspace, nor are you likely to track down buddies from your fraternity in college on Kluster. Instead, Kluster is like a cross between social networking, think-tanks, and focus groups. But that really doesn’t do justice to the concept of Kluster because unlike social networks the goal isn’t broadcasting your life or connecting with cool dudes or hot chicks and racking up long friends lists. Kluster is about creation.

Here is the general concept.

You create a profile on Kluster that describes your interests and background.
You post, or participate in “Projects”. These “Projects” are websites, products, business ideas that you would like to see become reality.
Users are given “Watts” which are currency. You invest your “Watts” in ideas (yours or others) that you want to see succeed.
You can post a reward on a project, and the payout of that reward goes to users who invested their watts (distributed by % of investment.)
You are not limited to a # of projects, only a finite # of watts - so invest wisely. When your “investment” proves successful, you win back your Watts plus more.

There is more to it, but visit: http://www.kluster.com for the details.

I’m hooked on Kluster. It’s brilliant.