The answer is I don't know.

Well, that's not entirely accurate.

I don't know Venkatesh personally...at all. Never met him. Only recently found out where he lives.

But, I do know this.

He reads my blog.

He's commented on it (here, here, and here-where he called me to task).

I have no idea how he found my blog, but I don't care. His interaction on my blog makes him, in my opinion, one of my "true fans."

And that means, I need to cultivate and nurture the relationship with him.

So, when I got an email directly from him the other day asking:

Hi Jeremy:
Know of any source that clearly maps out what demographies/cultures the various social networks are strong?
Basically looking for a more formal picture of the casual stuff we all know (LinkedIn=US professional, Xing=Europe, Orkut=strong Portuguese/asian...), more on the cultural/national demographics end than the age demographics end.
Venkat

I will admit it... my initial reaction was "I don't have time for this." And then, I said, 'wait, this is WHY I am here."

So, I took a moment and thought about it. How could I help?

Took a page out of the Never Eat Alone playbook in this respect.

Venkat was giving me an opportunity to show myself off as a "thought leader." That's good, right?

So I responded:

I don't, but I did read this yesterday, which may be a step in the right direciton

http://www.jamesbeldock.com/2007/11/24/age-does-matter-on-the-demographics-of-social-networks-i/

And he wrote back:

Wow, this is seriously interesting. You're right, step in the right direction. Esp. the part about U. Michigan, since I am on that in Facebook :)
I might take a shot at a visualization myself. Did you see this post of mine btw?
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2008/04/19/a-map-of-the-world-20-canon/

And I did take a look at it. And I felt richer for it. So, by my effort to 'cultivate' the relationship with Venkat, I come away a better informed, more educated person. We both win.

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