So who's your "friend"? Interesting article in USA Today
Great article in USA Today about the conception/connotation of being a "friend" in the blogosphere. . .
Meet my 5,000 new best pals
Posted 9/19/2006 10:25 PM ET
By Janet Kornblum, USA TODAY
Brittnie Sarnes has 5,000 MySpace friends. Actually, make that 5,036. At last count, anyhow. About 10 people a day ask to "friend" her.
Usually she says yes.
She knows they're total strangers, but it doesn't matter. Each time she's asked, it feels "kinda cool - like 'Oh, this person thinks I'm cool enough to befriend me,' " says Brittnie, 17, of Columbus, Ohio.
From there, anything can happen. The person might "comment" her page. She might send her e-mail or an instant message, and they could start a conversation. They might even become real-life friends.
But probably, she'll just sit on Brittnie's list, joining the 90% of her friends with whom she has virtually no contact.
Call it a hobby. Call it an obsession. Call it the new way of socializing in the networked world.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2006-09-19-friending_x.htm
Meet my 5,000 new best pals
Posted 9/19/2006 10:25 PM ET
By Janet Kornblum, USA TODAY
Brittnie Sarnes has 5,000 MySpace friends. Actually, make that 5,036. At last count, anyhow. About 10 people a day ask to "friend" her.
Usually she says yes.
She knows they're total strangers, but it doesn't matter. Each time she's asked, it feels "kinda cool - like 'Oh, this person thinks I'm cool enough to befriend me,' " says Brittnie, 17, of Columbus, Ohio.
From there, anything can happen. The person might "comment" her page. She might send her e-mail or an instant message, and they could start a conversation. They might even become real-life friends.
But probably, she'll just sit on Brittnie's list, joining the 90% of her friends with whom she has virtually no contact.
Call it a hobby. Call it an obsession. Call it the new way of socializing in the networked world.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2006-09-19-friending_x.htm