Social networking has become global, based as it is on the Internet. Less certain has been its transformation into sustainable businesses models. Most networks have either disappeared or their market share has been absorbed by one of a very few global networks, notably by Facebook in 2011. But how sustainable is a network like Facebook?
To answer this question, this paper looks at three issues:
- How FB rose to its present dominant position and why others fell short;
- What are the business models behind SNS; and
- How sustainable are they?
