Marc Andresseen takes exception to the recent comparisons of social networking platforms to Geocities. Specifically, he cites the Wall Street Journal and Steve Ballmer.

I found this curious because I had a very similar conversation recently with the CEO of a major lead generation platform. That individual, who had direct familiarity with Geocities, had similar comments and opinions.

My line of discussion (similar to Silence Dogood’s theft of my thoughts) was that I believed there is value, to a advertising platform, to figure out social networks and harvest them. They are, like my TargusInfo Online Lead Quality Summit presentation points, out filled with advertising gold:

• Self-targeted,
• Full of sneezers,
• Guided by influencers, and
• Trust is built in

His response:

I am not sure there is much of an opportunity. It is like Geocities. People will put up a bunch of nonsense and tell you their favorite baseball team and band, but they won’t talk about their finances and money matters.

I think that these analogies are passing on an opportunity because the problem is too hard. I think that means green field opportunity with little competition. What do you think? I would love to hear your comments…

Tags: mark andresseen, social networks, ning, facebook, myspace, geocities, steve ballmer, lead generation, bill rice