Can a professional and profitable tourism industry flourish if it is dominated by lifestylers? If they gain too much prominence, do growers run the risk of ‘industrializing’ the industry and undermine the inherent ‘cottage charm’ of SMTEs where visitors are provided with a highly personalized experience? The findings raise interesting questions about the relationship between the social, technological and educational aspects of ‘social networking’. Although most SMTEs appear to be adopting social networking technologies only gradually, they do so in the context of seeking active engagement and interactions with like-minded people. For lifestylers, the social (and to a lesser extent educational) network consists of other tourism operators, many of whom share common lifestyle aspirations. For growers, the network extends actively into the wider business community. Both groups are interested in acquiring knowledge, but the types of knowledge and how it is used are heavily nuanced across the two groups. In the case of the home or family-based subset of lifestyle businesses, it reflects the need to reach out and feel connected to a community that extends beyond immediate neighbours and/or family.