The Facebook fad - and the more discerning of us always knew that, for anyone over 25 (with a life), a fad was what it was - may already be burning itself out. Recent Nielsen figures revealed a 5% falling off of unique users in January.
Of course, there is still much mileage left in Facebook. As a community forum for disconnected adolescents with too much time on their hands - which is where it started out - it provides an opportunity for brands to engage positively with such.
For the rest of us who don't want to share our lives, thoughts, photos with strangers and who have come to realise that there is a good reason why we lost touch with peripheral associates from our past - they were just boring - we will turn our attention to the more sophisticated networks that are the future of online communities.
LinkedIn, the platform for professional networking, will interest more of us. However, networks controlled by reputable businesses that restrict the user group to only those who you really want to associate with and exclude all others - like a gentleman's club - are the real future. If they can combine this networking opportunity with valuable content, then they're on to a winner.
One such was launched last week - the Financial Times' Executive Forum for TMT professionals. For two grand a year, members get 12 months' subscription to FT.com, free entry to an FT conference and the ability to network with their peers in related businesses, FT journalists and speakers at FT conferences.
The idea is to build a bridge between delegates to conferences, allowing them to remain engaged and follow up on topics explored at conferences, or in FT print and online content.
Professional communities are the most likely to pay for such exclusivity, but social and special interest groups, organised similarly, provide valuable targeted commercial opportunities, not least in brand research and buzz monitoring.
And traditional media owners, with their established brands, reputations and loyal audiences, are best positioned to exploit the next generation of online communities.
- Colin Grimshaw is the deputy editor of Media Week.
A view from Colin Grimshaw
The future of online communities lies in exclusivity
There's a viral doing the rounds - the Facebook Anthem, which to the tune of Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire has a "I'm getting bored of Facebook" chorus. Go on to Bebo and you'll find rather darker expressions of anti-Facebook sentiment.