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Are focused, niche bookmarking websites the future of the Web?

Several weeks ago, I bumped into http://sphinn.com/ a self-described, “Internet Marketing & Discussion Forum.” Unlike Digg, Furl, Reddit, Technorati and others, Sphinn accepts links for a relatively narrow group of subjects. Topics related search marketing (SEO, PPC etc.), online marketing and social media will make it onto Sphinn.

I was immediately hooked. Sphinn is nirvana to someone like me who is interested in online marketing. It gives me exactly what I want. I don’t have to dig through a bunch of posts on topics that I don’t like, I don’t have to search some huge website for the most relevant tags or categories. By definition, Sphinn contains the most relevant topics for me.

And from what I can tell it is a professional network. The people who post seem to be knowledgeable about their topics, I haven’t seen any flame wars or nasty attacks (I haven’t been using the network for a few weeks, so perhaps, I just haven’t found the flame wars?)

**Update: Ok, I was being a little naive. There does seem some name calling and flaming, here and there on Sphinn.

I can’t help but wonder if smaller networks like Sphinn are the future of social bookmarking. Don’t many people want to quickly and easily find targeted information on the subjects they are interested in? Don’t you?

And, of course, for times when not in the mood, you can always take a nice random walk down stumbleupon.

Update: 8/5/08: Andy Hagans, from Tropical SEO has compiled a useful list of social niche websites.