We’re not really friends, you and I.
Feb 24
While i was at wordcamp miami this weekend, i was listening to John James Jacoby of BuddyPress and what needed to be done to update it when he said something that kind of resounded in my head, when talking about the “Friends” functionality he said something to the tune of “social networks have kind of changed the meaning of friends”.
Thats quite an interesting statement. How many followers on twitter do you really consider a friend? Or facebook for that matter? Now if you hang out with people at a party, pass them by at a tech meetup, or happen to find them through a random retweet, you automatically get added on facebook, twitter, and they want a reference on linkedin.
On the other hand, maybe this is a positive progression into a more peaceful society? We’re all friends here, you and I.
what do you think? do you consider everyone you add on your networks your “Friend”?
What is wordcamp, miami?
Ah, sorry for not adding the link!
word camp is a mini conference in miami every year that developers and bloggers alike join to talk about all things wordpress!
Unfortunately I look past the “friend” term since it’s sort of universal to any social network. I think the only network that really got it right was Flickr, where you had a choice of (by native functionality) labeling someone as a friend, family member or contact. That way you had 3 privacy levels off the bat, well before Facebook became popular and started the mainstream practice of grouped contacts.
I think about this topic as well. Even to the point of Facebook now causing some people to lose their jobs, get arrested, etc. (while not common, it does happen).
I definitely do not think of every person I become ‘friends’ with on FB as a friend. I hide a lot of the things/people I have no interest in on the home page. Also I’m certainly guilty of having a few FB “purges” in my time.
Good or bad, it is amazing just how much Facebook has injected its brand into the fabric of a lot of people’s daily lives. “I saw it on his/her facebook profile” is a common phrase now. Every TV spot it seems has a Facebook profile URL in small copy at the end of the Ad.
In the corporate world, we sometimes have to think of Facebook in other ways too; mainly as a liability. Every picture, comment, etc that is put on my Wall or Status must be read, reviewed, and removed if it makes me look “bad” to my employer basically lol.
Overall, a cool site with a great concept….but just wonder when it will become sort of overkill with all the games, apps, religious statements, and “come to my uncles 42nd bday party” events.
@Faelan : The website for WordCamp Miami is wordcampmia.com. Also check out wordcamp.org for all the WordCamps that are coming up. Probably one near you.