I think that the motivation behind "specialty" social networks is noble, but I think to a large extent it's just another example of web developers not often thinking through what exactly they are creating and just ending up with services that are redundant, poorly designed, and choked with advertisements.
I have visited last.fm a few times but never seen the necessity to join (I don't really get why I would want to share my music play counts with other folks, or what that would do...).
I wonder how many people still utilize the lowly forum / message board, and if that is considered a primal form of "social networking." I suppose Ning allows you to create a forum section on your site, but I'm talking about sites that are only a forum. (The forums on Ning sites seem pretty poorly organized anyway)
There was a forum that some acquaintances made just for their general group of friends, and that was a lot of fun (it doesn't exist any more, unfortunately). There is a forum I frequent that centers around the sort of music I enjoy, but there are sub-forums on that site to talk about other stuff that is non-music related, but of course it is with that same group of like-minded folks. I don't know, I feel like all of these different social networks (which can really be created by anybody with only a modicum of effort) are trying to pull people in by dazzling with sight and sound and screaming "This is a way to meet people who like the thing you do!" and all the while ignoring (or at least making secondary) actual dialogue and interaction with other people. It's not like I am engaging in life-altering conversations of incredible depth at the forums I browse, but I think it's more fulfilling than these sites where it just ends up being a way to share statistics.
Like robots. Social robots. "I'll show you my data if you show me yours, let's calculate our compatibility."
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