e-consultancy.com : E-business Briefing: "The new crop of online social networks such as london forums - craigslist(which quietly launched in London this year), Friendster, MeetUp and Tribe.net has lead to trusted netorks being formed amongst the most active users. This is ultimately leading them towards more reliable information on purchases and services in defined geographical areas - especially when it comes to house sales and plumbers, not to mention prospective boyfriends and girlfriends.

And it's all getting a bit serious. Three weeks ago, San Francisco-based Tribe.net won $6.3 million in VC funding, while Knight Ridder and The Washington Post Co. also took an undisclosed stake.

Tribe.net, launched in July, invites people to build a variety of social and career networks, or tribes, to help them accomplish their goals. Typical users are highly educated urban dwellers aged 20 to 40, according to the company, so don't expect to find Grandma there.

But it's early days yet, and the key demographic is non-newspaper readers - people newspapers are understandably desperate to attract.

Just ask The Times. It, along with the Independent (which was first) recently launched tabloid versions to try and attract younger, commuting readers in London.

If these latest move in the US are anything to go by, there could come a day when we'll see social software come free with our daily newspaper."

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