Antisocial Networking
I was talking to a newly friended cousin-in-law today on Facebook. She asked me if there was any chance he would start a Facebook account now that he knows she joined.
I said probably not since that would require him to be social. He would probably only want to join an antisocial networking site.
So that got me to thinking. What would an antisocial networking site look like?
(Let's ignore for the moment that, by definition, antisocial people wouldn't be interested in networking).
I was pretty sure that if I had thought of antisocial networks, then so had somebody else. A quick Google search showed me how correct that assumption was.
I admit I am intrigued by the Enemybook app because I currently have a person in FB friending permission limbo whom I swore I would never again speak with again (it took me a while to figure out that friends don't do to other friends the things he did to me all those years ago). I tried ignoring his friend request but he just tried again. So now I am leaving the request hanging.
I am feeling a little guilty because I am a forgiving person. However, I am just not willing to open that door again.
Talk about being antisocial.
I said probably not since that would require him to be social. He would probably only want to join an antisocial networking site.
So that got me to thinking. What would an antisocial networking site look like?
(Let's ignore for the moment that, by definition, antisocial people wouldn't be interested in networking).
- Would the site allow people to insult each other?
- Would it allow them to brag about their latest deeds of assholery?
- Would a person sign up to it only to be able to reject every request to "friend" them?
- Would a person start out as a friend of everybody who has an account on the page and the point of the site would be to "unfriend" everyone? To make it extra special, one would have to approve whether or not they were unfriended. The truly antisocial would then be able to mess it up for lots of people.
I was pretty sure that if I had thought of antisocial networks, then so had somebody else. A quick Google search showed me how correct that assumption was.
- There is the site isolatr which appears to have been in beta since 2006.
- There is also snubster which, ironically, has a Facebook app.
- Enemybook is also tied to Facebook as a Facebook app and allows you to add people as Facebook enemies (in Facebook, they will be listed right bellow your Facebook friends list). Interestingly, it also allows you to friend the enemies of your enemies.
I admit I am intrigued by the Enemybook app because I currently have a person in FB friending permission limbo whom I swore I would never again speak with again (it took me a while to figure out that friends don't do to other friends the things he did to me all those years ago). I tried ignoring his friend request but he just tried again. So now I am leaving the request hanging.
I am feeling a little guilty because I am a forgiving person. However, I am just not willing to open that door again.
Talk about being antisocial.