You'd think the Scripps guy who spoke at Omniture Discover 2.0 launch demo at NASDAQ last week could have dropped me a hint about the new Social Network from HGTV  called "Rate My Room" was going to be launched real soon.

Nah - in my dreams, but, I'm sure Rate My Room Social Network was in the works for, at least, a couple of months before it was announced today.  And now that everyone, all of a sudden, sorta, wants to launch a "Social Network" - 2007 will be dubbed, among other things, the year of Social Networks - everyone is going to end up having their own.

Social Networks - Politicians running for President in 2008 with Barack Obama starting with his own network - all the candidates will do it - and pretty soon, more cable channels will have their own networks and it keeps going on and on. 

I bet a lot of the photos and postings I am seeing on Rate My Room, today, are being front loaded onto HGTV's Rate My Room by professionals HGTV hired for that purpose - just to get the ball rolling - the photos look too "picture perfect" and "posed" for me - a lot of people take lousy photos (including me) and all these photos look just too good.

But, Membership is not without it's rewards, and HGTV's Rate My Room gives you -

- Rich, in-depth information, inspiration and instruction
- Exclusive personalized features and products
- Robust newsletters packed with tips and techniques
- Access to all Scripps Networks sites - click here to see the list

I think this is another example of how many of the architects I worked with dropped the ball - not that Social Networks are so easy to set up - but they're not that hard to build either, as most of what you need can be created with off the shelf modules, so I'm told - and I've been researching this stuff for a while.

But here's the thing - are Social Networks actually the answer to Engagement, Loyalty and Sales?   I think not. 

Every day your going to hear of more and more Social Networks being launched - but how many people are going to join them - since it means spending time to really participate in Social Network? 

My feeling - unless a way is found to make it EASY to connect up and transfer profiles across social networks (and I think that's all possible now too - but I'm not sure how easy and seemless it is) most people will hold back putting too much of themselves into any Social Network they join.