Whither Friendster? Whither Facebook? Whither the next big thing?

[samedietc]

when the rubble clears from the great friendster crash of '04, i will have nothing. ben will have nothing. none of us will have anything. no more friends. no more testimonials. no more instant self-assurance nor affirmation of life's few treasures. nothing. zero. abcess. lack. waste. enemies.
Danny Gibson wrote that testimonial for me in 2003, and

Comments

[mrvoid]

The problem with Friendster is that once you put your name and photo and shit up, and add yourself a friends list, there's not much to do except lean back and say, "All right. What's for dinner?"

They may have added some shiny gewgaws in the last few years, but honestly, it's been so long since I used it with any regularity that I just wouldn't know. There was just no reason to log in because, well, I had set up my page. That was that done with.

MySpace is exactly the same. I have no idea why it's more popular, unless there's a real market for a version of Friendster that induces epileptic seizures in child molesters.

As for untapped internet potential, I want to see a version of MySpace or Friendster or Little Lord Fauntleroy's Club For Those Who Could Afford College Facebook that doesn't list your favorite bands, but does list skills, and areas of specialized knowledge. So that if, for instance, I'm absolutely fucking stymied as to how to install my new garbage disposal, I can go on this website and click on my friend who

[samedietc]

re: Friendster's low return-rate, see my comment above on the Testimonial system as a proto-Wall. but you're definitely right that, as it stands, Facebook gives you more reasons to check back. (Those are the two I know best, though I also have accounts at LinkedIn, Goodreads, MySpace, Amazon, Livejournal, Blogspot, etc.--and of all those, MySpace is the least attractive

[mrvoid]

LinkedIn didn't occur to me... it's definitely more along the lines of the direction I'd love to see these sites go. Not only can you go around friending folks, but it's actually got a useful function beyond "OMG, YOU LOOK TEH CUTES IN UR PIC!!!" I have nothing against the use of these social network sites, but it just feels like a system that allows information transfer between total strangers -- on a global scale -- in split-second time -- is getting pissed away on two teenagers sending each other Fallout Boy lyrics

[samedietc]

that is serendipity. i sent along stick figure hamlet, not knowing what other archive/resume i could supply. this friend of a friend apparently is working on the epic of gilgamesh, in some capacity. i like connecting people, but frankly, how to do it?

as for connecting to people online vs. in person, the book Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam claims that fuller human interaction can only take place in certain situations where you're not really interested--that's a terrible description on my part, but here's some examples: church is better than a porsche forum, because in the latter you only get to talk about cars, whereas in church you can talk about anything. (some people have taken issue with this, for clear reasons--can you really talk about anything in church

[mrvoid]

as for connecting to people online vs. in person, the book Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam claims that fuller human interaction can only take place in certain situations where you're not really interested

Tell that to the casual encounters section of Craigslist.

As far as the comic-writin' friend goes, feel free to give them my e-mail if they're interested.

[unsi_sempai]

Orkut lets you list professional skills and also lets you be bombarded with messages from hyper-friendly Brazilian hipsters. It's also got all the fun of Friendster if Friendster crashed every thirty seconds!

[unsi_sempai]

also I just deleted my Orkut account because fuck Orkut

[samedietc]

whenever you say orkut, all i think is something like "you kill the orkut, and find 3 gold pieces" but i'm sure that's my problem, not orkut's.

why did it become so popular in brazil?

and does it have any features you would steal for a mythical Best Social Networking Site Ever? let's design a dream--the BSNSE. (or do you think DSNS sounds better?)

[unsi_sempai]

There will be no BSNSE because the future of commerce lies in intense specialization

long tail