These days it's hard to miss the growing body of evidence showing the connection between technology and the creation of new social networks.

Simply put, social networks are communities of like-minded or similarly-interested people sharing thoughts, ideas, advice and news in a structured environment.

They're not a new phenomenon — all of us can remember the basic social networks of grammar school, college sororities/fraternities, etc., which regularly occur in local communities.

What's changed in the past decade is the ease by which new social networks can be created, found, and sustained. Technology has made it a breeze to locate and engage other people anywhere in the world with similar interests or common traits: be it socio-economic background, hobbies, specific faith, or even political views.

MySpace, the social networking site targeting young men, is the best-known online social community. It has a worldwide audience of more than 95 million members, with 280,000 new profiles registered on the site each day (as Wired points out, roughly the circulation of a big-city newspaper).

But social networks aren't limited to tech-savvy males in their late teens and early 20s.

This week, traditional and online media have widely reported on the launch of a new social networking site targeting seniors.

Dubbed by many as "MySpace for Seniors", Eons.com was created by Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor as a new portal to reach 50+ year old boomers with information tailored to older Americans’ interests.

As technology continues to simplify the way we socialize with others who share common interests, we can expect further atomization of social networks, too. In the next 50 years it’s safe to predict more formalized communities of niche groups will form, and their aggregate voices will carry more weight with companies who provide products and services for them.

Communicators need to keep a close eye on the social networks developing that relate to the organizations and brands we represent. We need to understand how these networks form, who gains power and influence, and find creative ways to become trusted contributors to these communities.