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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120269162692857749.html

The new model creates a more trusted environment for reaching high-value, frequent purchasers, whether of airline tickets, electronics, clothes or other items. Where does that leave the less-frequent purchasers? Probably looking to their friends rather than to advertising for advice. I’m an expert on travel; my friends may look to me for hotel choices. When I’m in the mood to buy a book or a new computer, I’ll check out what my friends on Facebook are doing.

This does not mean that traditional online advertising will go away, just that it will become less effective. Value is being created in users’ own walled gardens, which they will cultivate for themselves in real estate owned by the social networks. The new value creators are companies — like Facebook and Dopplr — that know how to build and support online communities.

Alloy Media + Marketing commissioned a study by Harris Interactive toward the end of the 2007 school year. Social networking ranked highly, and was listed as a daily activity by 54% of respondents, second only to e-mail.

More than one-quarter of respondents also said they viewed online video daily, which explains why many students listed YouTube as their favorite Web site.