Social networking has rapidly gone from being the rising star to a commodity in a short short space of time. While it is still too early to tell whether Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of My Space was a good use of $580m, it would seem that even Facebook don’t quite believe the $15b valuation that Microsoft used to acquire 1.6% of it.

So while the soufle that surrounds the valuation of social network sites readies for collapse, in the real world some of the more courageous entrepreneurs are creating ‘purpose built social networks’. These social networking sites are created specifically for a purpose around a macro topic. Now while none of this is really all that new, (HotCopper) what is interesting is the way they are linking the power of the voice of the user with commercial outcomes.

www.glassdoor.com is an interesting take on social networking and the employment market. While many sites have tried to use the power of the insider voice (Vault) and others have tried to use social networking to disrupt the recruitment process (2vouch, Linkme), the glass door is trying to harness the real voice of the employee. The interesting part will be seeing where this evolves to.

Will the site turn into one of the great outlets for bitching and sledging? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? What would you do if your company suddenly started to get a rating that was less than favourable? What is the relationship between the rating a company gets on Glassdoor and their own internal employee satisfaction ratings? And of course, what does information like this tell the company’s customers and shareholders about how well it is being managed?

Watching how the Glassdoor polices its community while also attempting to monetise its ‘value’ will make it not only an interesting site to watch but an interesting business to watch as well.

Michael R Johnson