Social-networking burn-out?

I doubt social networking's just a passing fad, as some say. In fact, it's still in growth mode (MySpace has just passed the 130 million-profile mark). But according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the novelty is wearing off. One of its examples, though, is a 44-year-old guy who established accounts at 15 difference social sites and is finding it hard to keep up! I doubt many teenagers, the most expert multitaskers, maintain profiles on that many sites. The Chronicle cites Nielsen/NetRatings figures showing that "between August and September, traffic to almost all popular social networking sites fell," but social-networking sites say the August/September traffic dip is perennial because of summer holidays and back-to-school. MySpace, for one, told the Chronicle it's growing by 320,000 new profiles a day worldwide, and Web traffic measurer comScore Media Metrix says MySpace traffic for September/October went up "on a weekly basis." Then there's the generational thing, which the Chronicle points out: New social networkers keep coming up (I wonder how many people turn 13 around the world each year). The Chronicle has a sidebar (at the bottom of the article) that lists and links to nearly two dozen social sites.