We at the Web Marketing Association are always looking for new industry categories to add to our WebAward competition for Web site development.

We have received a number of requests to add social networking as a new category. These days you can't open a magazine or newsletter without hearing about MySpace, LinkedIn or a hundred other Websites where people come together to meet.

My question is this: Isn't social networking simply the latest buzz word to describe online communities? Online communities have been a category in the WebAwards since 1998, the year after the WebAwards was started.

Can anyone explain to why one is different from another or is this just a new coat of paint on a old car?