I’ve noticed a couple of posts recently, in my feed reader, that suggest apps that will help to keep track, and even publish your own lifestream.

I sat back for a minute, and thought, how many social networks can there be? I know there are some niche ones out there, book clubs, wine groups, things like that. But how many actual social things are there? Then I discovered one of many User Name Check sites, that allow you to see where your preferred username is taken, and which sites you can still go to nab what you want.

There are loads of options!

I use Facebook, occasionally, Twitter more often, and that’s about it. I sign up to a lot of things, and in our capacity as Sidepodcast, we often try out new social networking tools as they become available. Most of the time, it only lasts a week or so, and the two mentioned remain my main source of communication.

I YouTube videos sometimes, and use Last.fm, but not really in a social capacity. I’m not entirely sure how anyone manages to keep up with more than just a couple of social networks at a time.

How many is too many?

Surely just having one social network would actually make the networking part easier? Is it really just a fashion thing, or is it another version of market forces - where avoiding a monopoly is a good thing?

Either way, I still maintain that Jaiku was the best and it is the one thing I am mad at Google for.