one more ranty bit, then I have to go and do some work

[waider]

Social Networking.

I received an Orkut invite yesterday from someone I didn't recognise but who I've apparently had technical dealings with in the past. Aside from the much-ranted-about privacy issues, and the friend-or-not issue that seems to cause so many allegedly antisocial geeks such heartrending difficulty, my biggest problem with any of the social networking toys I've looked at to date is the question of what the hell it gives me. Maybe I'm unique in not being particularly enamoured with the notion of belonging to a web of people the bulk of whom I don't actually know, but so far I've seen nothing compelling about these systems. LiveJournal provides a way of keeping in touch with people I know from UseNet, without the spam and noise that makes UseNet unusable, so there's an instant win for LiveJournal from my POV. But beyond that, I've already got email and a multi-protocol instant messenger for keeping in touch with people, and I really can't see how filling out yet another demographic form and writing quirky yet insightful things about myself gets me anything over and above what's presented to people who accidentally hit my website while googling for, say, hash brownies or bike tricks (the two most common search referrers on my site) and start looking around.

Comments

[opadit.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of people find Orkut useful for professional networking, or feel that it may eventually prove useful.

Re:

[waider.livejournal.com]

I guess I have to question the value of that. I think the idea - that people will rate you on your l33t hax0r sk1llz, thus making you more professionally desirable - is interesting, but not hugely or wholly different to traditional networking; you still need to know people to get to know other people. The obvious pathological case is represented by myself and wisn; we've got a two-person network on one of the social networking sites because we both "friended" each other, and then a whole lot of nothing happened. Without randomly attempting to insinuate ourselves into the networks of others, our own network remains static; and if we randomly insinuate into other networks, then in some sense we're devaluing those networks because anyone who takes us on board without knowing who we are is lowering the total amount of trust within their own network. I'm sort of hopelessly orbiting the point I'm trying to make here, but I think you get the gist of it. Bottom line is that I think that the current gamut of social networking tools are actually less useful than real-world networking because of a tendency of people in the networks to simply accept "friend" invitations (or friend declarations) from complete strangers for fear that they'll otherwise cause offence. It never quite gets that bad in the real world, or rather it hasn't done so in my limited and perhaps sheltered experience.

Perhaps Orkut will prove useful for professional networking. I don't feel quite compelled by the promise that it may eventually do so, though.

Re:

[opadit.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, to tell the truth. Online "connections" can't beat face-to-face meetings, especially in any kind of industry where people get jobs via social connections, "who you know," "pay to play," and so on. The entertainment industry, for one, is very much driven by social connections rather than by individual achievement; for another example, Philadelphia politics, like a lot of cities, is an old-boys' club. Orkut can maybe help two people break the ice -- "Hey, aren't you a friend of So-And-So, who I've worked with? I'll be at LISA next month; let's have a drink and talk about a project" -- but can't substitute for in-person interactions, interviews, and deal-making that happens when actual groups of people physically get together.

I've noticed that the people I know who get the most work and accomplish the most stuff are the people who tend to have lousy, or even nonexistent, websites and Friendster/Orkut/Livejournal presences. They're too busy working, and networking, to spend time online!

[jwgh]

It allowed me to find a couple of people I last was in touch with five or six years ago, one of whom has an interesting blog and the other of which I'm having brunch with on Sunday.

The forums are also amusing, though the interface isn't great and they'll probably become wholly unusable as more and more people start using them.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I enjoy the toyness of it, seeing various names that i hadn't seen in a while, and how they all connect. But do i find it useful? No.

[bitpuddle.livejournal.com]

Friendster is so over. You must join Orkut.

Actually, I'm lying. I only have five "friends" on friendster, and of those, I've only met three in-person.