A friend recently asked me what I think of QuePasa.com, the social network targeted at people of Hispanic heritage. It got me thinking about the number of SN’s out there, and just how many are sustainable.

Of course, there is the school of thought that there is only room for a finite number of social nets, and that niche SN’s have limited chance for success. While I see the rationale in this argument, my personal take opinion is somewhat contrarian.To me, as long as the niche SN does a good job of facilitating easy integration with usual suspects, and makes it easy for members to manage multiple social graphs by leveraging Facebook Connect and OpenSocial/Open ID, then I think that there is room for as many social nets as there are diverse cultures,

To add to this point of view, I recently came across some research that points to the growing size and influence of the Hispanic community. According to the Simmons Market Research Bureau, Gen X is more ethnically diverse than earlier generations, with Hispanics making up more than 20% of the more than 55 million Gen-Xers (Whites are at ~60%, Blacks 12% , with Asians and Pacific Islanders making up the rest). and the remainder being. This distribution means that Gen Xers are 12% less likely than adults overall (index 88) to be of White and not Hispanic descent. At the same time, they are 45% more likely than adults on average (index 45) to be Hispanic! A startling statistic, to be sure.

From a quick review of the site, I think one of the challenges QP.com will need to overcome is keeping the site smut-free. By that I mean that the Latino community is historically more romantic/amorous, and so the propensity for this to morph into an online meat market is higher. A gross generalization I realize, but it only takes clicking on a few sample profiles to see that this is a real threat… or opportunity, I guess, depending on how you look at it

So what’s my take on Quepasa.com? Are they onto something? I think so, but if, and only if, their strategy is to augment participation in the larger SN’s and not replace it. And only if they get things right vis-a-vis integration with other social nets. 

As usual, I’d love to hear what YOU think about this. Please, comment away!