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  • From: David R.Matusiak <dave AT matusiak.org>
  • To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] MS & Social Networking Sites (link)
  • Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 15:25:32 -0500

Why do all of their product names imply such unpleasant things?

ex. "Longhorn", "Hailstorm", "Wallop"

Does M$ really just want to give us a good long horn up the ass while showering us in a hailstorm of worms and virii, with the occasional whack-a-mole wallop? I mean, if this is their goal, then they are pretty much shoving it in your face.

How long until they are naming products "Gangland Execution Style" or "Father Raping Process Management"??

I think the social networking research they are doing is quite interesting, however. I get the impression that they are looking for more customers (and not-so-technical ones, at that) to peddle their wares to. I wonder if they will be able to bridge the crucial gap which will allow Joe and Jane Everyday to blog, too. Then we will all be equals. Then there will be Peace in the Valley.

Meanwhile, I am disturbed by the element of social networking that most of these write-ups ignore. Shunning. Toading. Excommunication. Taking Yo ass up off their Buddy List. The callous removal of people who are no longer significant. Check out the October 5th blog entry of this young lass.

http://hadley524.blogspot.com/

"On a different note, it is so empowering taking a name off your buddy list."

Nice. Such allegiance could move one to tears (or lack thereof). And we're not talking about some teenie bopper that got mad at Becky for stealing her boyfriend, but a Masters student studying at Carnegie Mellon University.

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/%7Ehef/

No, I'm not stalking this woman. I had no knowledge of her existence until she showed up on YAB (Yet Another Blog) on October 12.

http://www.aboyandhiscomputer.com/show.php?ItemID=1839

So, blogs and social networking on the Internet are important, right? But what happens to all the ousted group members? Do they find some seedy chatroom in a murky corner of the 'net and proceed to dwindle away their days hitting on transvestites? Do they reincarnate themselves as a better virtual avatar and fool their previous persecutors into allowing them back in? Do they turn into spammers to drive their online jurors insane?

I don't know what those freaks do, but I hope they keep it off my lawn. And who is to say that they didn't deserve a good shunning? Why, maybe they should be summarily executed for bringing such bad taste to the highly refined online culture of the World Wide Web? These are all questions that the great minds at Microsoft will have to solve; not just for their products, but for the entirety of civilization. Since 99% of the globe uses these products, then certainly their decisions will become the accepted norm. Well, unless it breaks standards-compliance and someone gets on their case for it.

But seriously, we all maintain methods for placing certain individuals on the back burner. Occasionally, someone gets too hot. Others might get spicy and simmer to a delicious bouquet. Some might become stale or run out of "spritz." The variations in the species can cause volatility and, in extreme cases, polarization. What do these factors imply for the community? Does is dissolve or prosper? Are there bad parts of town? Just *how* do you remove someone from your Buddy List?

Mail filters are a much more tacit acknowledgment of someone's removal. No one else really has to be involved unless you make a circus out of it. Their incoming data simply does not reach you any longer. Everyone else in the city continues to transact and interact and prophylact. The removal is subtle, yet incomplete. You may still see responses to their content or their tree may keep shedding leaves and branches over your fence. Either way, minimal impact in both directions.

Now once you get to the interactive, linked, multi-blog phenomenon that is Wallop, you may see behaviour previously reserved for spoiled brat professional athletes. I mean, "Trash Talking", "Chest Slapping", in short "Electronic Fisticuffs."

So, for all those who bemoan the death of the "cool Internet" -- beware.
The best may be yet to come.
matusiak

On Saturday, November 8, 2003, at 02:02 PM, Michael D. Thomas wrote:

Apparently this stuff is red hot now... who knew?

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/ 0,1284,61095,00.html?tw=newsletter_top
stories_html

"What we are interested in is the whole blossoming of blogs, which let
people express themselves, and social-networking software, like Six
Degrees or Friendster," she said. "It's a really easy way to author
things, a really simple blogging tool that lets you add pictures."

---------------------------------------------------
Michael D. Thomas -- Software Developer, Author

"Oracle XSQL" in bookstores now
"Practical J2EE Web Services" available Spring 2004

--
"Take my word I'm a madman don't you know." - Bernie Taupin, 1970
--





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