People seem to keep misattributing the high signal/noise ratio of app.net to the fact that it's a paid service. It's a small service, full of tech geeks. See al

People seem to keep misattributing the high signal/noise ratio of app.net to the fact that it's a paid service. It's a small service, full of tech geeks. See also: Google+. If app.net is aiming to be a small niche service for tech geeks to discuss tech things, then great, but we already have a lot of those (that are free) and the market is going to be very small. If app.net is aiming to be a service every man, woman, and child is on (like Facebook or Twitter) not only will the signal/noise ratio drop to the levels we are witnessing on existing networks but it's hard to imagine a world where anyone outside of the tech community pays $50 for a social network. The whole thing seems like a nicely marketed effort towards geeks. The public at large does not care about Facebook ads or Twitter ads or "being the product." The fact the "being the product" quip is the thesis and rallying cry for app.net tells me this is a service that will always be by and for the people who care about such things, largely technologists.