PEW has released figures stating that for 67% the main reason for membership in a social network is, to stay in contact with friends. Followed closely by staying in touch with family members at 64%.My personal prediction for the development of these numbers in the coming years is:
While the motivation for family relationship will change little, since families are still the strongest connections, we will see a slight shift from traditional real-world friendships to interest-bound online contacts. Because friendships are traditionally interest-bound connections, I see the Internet becoming better suited to identify similarity of interests and abilities as traditional friendship closure. Therefore, the increase of online time and the increasing intensity of social interaction will both lead to a shift from analog to digital friendships and the corresponding motivation for social networking.