Next Big Gen Y Thing...Chat Rooms!

Great article recently in the NYTimes identifying a new group from Silicon Valley who have developed technology that will allow for text based, live socialization. With names like Meebo and TokBox, these sites will allow it's users access to an immediate experience not seen since the days of AOL.

It brings to mind the "smart mobs" identified in Howard Rheingold's book by the same name; Tokyo high-school girls, who served (and still serve) as a bellwether for social media. Those same "mobs" that were identified late last year in extensive research from Pew. But the new "chat rooms" will be quicker and richer. And if Pew is right, young Gen Y women will rush to them.