Social Networks

Quick post to share this article I found on social networks (primarily Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace), and the void they fill in our live. Or, more accurately, the role they serve.

"[Social Networks] can address some basic search failures: "It's hard to know what my friends are up to, but online I can catch up with them quickly." But they can also fix bigger search shortcomings, such as those related to establishing new relationships."


Read more!

There has been a lot of discussion on the web lately regarding lawsuits against Facebook.  Specifically: are social networks leaking personal information?  The first time I heard about "Facebook sharing our personal information!" was in a Facebook status message.  The concern was the Facebook was taking pictures tagged with my friend's name, and using those pictures as part of ads on my page.  As it turns out, Facebook was not showing these pictures to anyone who wasn't already publically allowed to see them.  The concerns were unwarranted.

Social networking can be addicting - or so they say.  Students are "facebook addicts," and their parents own "crackberries."  But why?  I read two articles on social networking this morning, one discussing the younger generation's internet use specifically, with some very interesting new statistics.  The other discusses why we feel this addiction.