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My idle thoughts on tech startups

There Really is a Social Network for Everything Now

Lee Hower
August 12, 2008 · < 1  min.

I was a somewhat lazy student in high school, but blessed with an ability to do pretty well at standardized tests. I ended up being named a National Merit Scholar based on my PSAT scores. While I was flattered to be honored, candidly I don’t think I’ve given this program a second thought since I graduated from high school.

Fast forward to this week… I receive an email invitation to join the National Merit Scholar Online Community. Don’t believe me? Click here.

Just goes to show there really is a social network for just about everything these days. As I’ve said before, I’m long social networking in several ways so arguably I have a materially higher tolerance for social networking fatigue than the average joe. But in a week when among other activities I sent a few SNS invites, got a few, and created a SNS profile for an upcoming conference, the National Merit Scholar SNS just struck me as a bit too much. When there’s an online social network for [INSERT RANDOM SUPER NICHE COMMUNITY HERE], beware the other signs of the apocalypse.

I signed up anyway, glutton for punishment perhaps or curiousity got the best of me (turns out Bill Gates was an NMS, who knew?). To all the cool kids hanging out on the NMS Community Online… hit me up there.


Lee Hower
Partner
Lee is a co-founder and Partner at NextView Ventures. He has spent his entire career as an entrepreneur and investor in early-stage software and internet startups.