How many more new social networking or micro-blogging or video-sharing site can one person use? Most of us don’t have time to respond to voice mail and e-mail every day, let alone check our Twitter updates and Facebook accounts and Flickr friends. And even if we have the time, do we need another site that helps us share and connect and network?

This problem is just under the surface at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York this week. Just a few years ago, it was easy for start-ups that provide Web services to attract early adopters — the tech geeks who are the first to use new technologies. The challenge was attracting mainstream users. But now, even the early adopters are stretched thin.

“The biggest chasm is no longer between early adopters and mainstream users. It is about finding and retaining the early adopters to begin with,” said Fraser Kelton, director of business development at AdaptiveBlue, who talked about the problem at a conference presentation called “The Real, Long-lasting (and Negative) Impact of Web 2.0 on Technology Adoption.”

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