Quote from ozzie123:
Geez, how about MySpace? Probably they didn't leave because the site is bought only by a puny Newscorp...
It's not like people will just up and leave on a drop of a dime, those that have profiles up will just visit it less and new people will have a smaller incentive to join. But once the advertising machine takes over with scripts, spyware, adware, malicious cookies, etc. it simply changes what myspace, craigslist, youtube & facebook were originally all about.
Let's really break it down, a big appeal of all those sites is that they are free and mostly clean of the advertising crap. If you search the web, there are a few other myspaces, craiglists, youtubes, and especially facebooks. Anyone hear of friendster, the site from which myspace copied the idea?
What made them stand out is word of mouth and the fact that they were "pure" and clean of parasitic advertising intentions. Of course, the final goal of the founders was to sell out, but to get the community, they had to keep it clean and "pure". Now that the big greedy corporate institution has taken over, these sites become nothing more than another advertising portal that people try to avoid.
I think all of them can be profitable entities but I also believe that their growth is capped. The key appeal is gone now that the sites have sold out. If too much advertising is pumped in, membership will drop. It's like a catch 22.
