The Stratius Blog

So it is entirely conceivable that social networking, like web-mail, will never make oodles of money. That, however, in no way detracts from its enormous utility. - From The Economist

Pretty well written take on the profitability of social networks. The point of the article is, basically, that social networking cannot make money (Facebook being the poster child), but that it is still useful and its pervasiveness is unavoidable.

Someone will make money off of social networking. Will they all? No. Does it matter? No. Social networking is becoming another mandatory tool of the online world. But it is important to point out that its profitability may not always be a direct link of “you pay me and I give you a product”. The access, the demographics, the community, the brand extension all plays into the success opportunity of any social network, and ultimately its financial viability.