Out of Egypt:

re: facebook - on the other hand...

"Social networking is sooo last year: Come on, people. Social networking? Everyone should just get a blog or a personal webpage."

I can see where "Student PR Blogger" is coming from (especially with regard to Facebook being a walled garden in the midst of an open Web). However, I think membership in a few social networks is actually worthwhile. The market's saturated now, so there's really no point for new groups to enter, unless they have some serious differentiators.

But Facebook is useful - it just depends on who you know. I don't see the "Web 2.0" landscape as blogging vs. social networking, but rather as a feedback loop in which the two borrow the best features of each other. For example, MyBlogLog gives blogs an associated social network, and Facebook "Notes" are like a minimalist version of blogging.

The core functions of blogs and social networks are different. Blogs are about transmitting ideas (or feelings, depending on the blogger); social networks are about connecting people. Many blogs are read by people who don't know each other in RL; social networks build off of pre-existing RL connections (at least if they follow the Facebook model).

This is what makes social networks a great promotion tool for what you do, and, more importantly, what you create. Most Facebook apps are useless, but the ones that build bridges between a person's online and offline interests and activities have great potential. I probably get more people reading my blog and my del.icio.us through Facebook than I get through Google. Or, if not, at least I get a different audience. And people who know me in RL are more likely to be loyal readers than people who find me through search - primarily because a level of trust has already been established.

So, in conclusion, blogging is great, but the social networks should not be neglected. They may be one of today's most powerful ways to promote your websites (and yourself) for free.