You know interest in social networks is peaking, when companies like eBay get back into the game. eBay has just announced an investment in MeetUp. Steve Rubel observes that the marketing side of social networks will have to respect the fact that consumers will not want to be marketed to.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Such a rare ingredient in much of today’s campaigns. Yes, if advertising is to hitch a ride on social hubs such as YouTube, Myspace, LinkedIn, UpMyStreet etc companies must first find ways to respect what’s going on in that arena, and not simply use it as another convenient handle on which to hang their brand.

They need to consider the WHAT before thinking of the HOW. Which also applies to social media such a sblogs, podcasts.

Shel Holtz puts it better: they should first have something to say before picking up the next cool tool that comes along. Podcasting may seem like old news in internet time, but there’s a lot of ground to cover, still. Mike Manuel (hosting a Meetup event called Third Thursday) wants to do what most communicators need to, at this point –share insights and implement projects around social media that would benefit clients.