Bubba Murarka

Fred Wilson, Brad Feld & others just made an investment in Zynga, a social network game network with no destination site.  Fred outlines the thesis on the Union Square Venture Blog. 

It seems like folks are aligning to one of two beliefs for social network apps:

• They are another distribution channel with low cost to build but can result in massive impressions / awareness [e.g. an app is a measurable meme].  Folks like context optional take this thought to the extreme by building branded applications for others as their core business. 
• They are the future of the web and destination sites are thing of the past [e.g. get on board now & grab land before everyone else gets clear / confident].  Folks like Zynga & Mesmo are making this bet and now lots of VCs are now too [seed funds have for a while as a measured risk]. 

I guess there is a third belief that I still hear from time to time: social networks platforms / apps are all bullshit.  But not that often anymore. 

For now, I am the “distribution channel” camp because I have seen the overriding need to build dead simple apps to get any kind of meaningful viral growth.  That coupled with the lack of a meaningful way to make $$$$ makes it hard for me to take the leap of faith.  

How about you?