The growth of social networks in the past year is phenomenal. eMarketer reports that one of the major shifts in social networks is their growing appeal to affluent Internet users.

The college student is no longer the sole user of Facebook or Myspace. The percentage of affluent users who participate in social networks has more than doubled in the past year, from 27% in January 2007 to 60% in January 2008.  Developments like this will drive the future of social networks, which are predicted to become mroe selective and specialized in the future. As more specialized social networks flourish, advertisers and marketers will find even more argeted online markets for their campaigns.

Click here to read the full eMarketer article.