I've decided not to join Second Life at the moment, for a number of reasons. The main one is that I don't have the time to spend 'playing' in an alternative world, whereas sites such as Facebook help me keep in touch with friends and past workmates that I don't see in 'real life'. Facebook and LinkedIn are also useful for networking for career and business reasons.
It seems strange to me that I'm not interested in these virtual worlds now, as one of my favourite books that really grabbed my attention when I read it was Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. In the near future, there is an online world called the 'metaverse', where people can interact with one another using 'avatars', their online persona. Sounds rather like Second Life, doesn't it? I like the satire and black humour of the book, but I think Second Life could be just a little dull to spend much time in. I don't doubt that it is technically brilliant, and a fascinating research topic, but I don't want to escape into it.
Recently there was a documentary on SBS about an American mother of four who became involved with an English man whilst playing Second Life. For her it became an obsession, so much so that she would spend hours online chatting while the family tried to get on with normal life around her. In the end she travelled to England to meet her virtual lover who had already lost interest so she had to return home to work out whether her marriage was going to survive. Situations like this show the darker side of our rush to embrace online communities when we perhaps should be spending important time with our 'real life' circle of family and friends. (Hmmm, look at the time that I'm making these posts!)
Showing posts with label networking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label networking. Show all posts
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Nearly there ... FaceBook tonight
It feels like I am travelling on a train through a new country. I keep finding new places to explore but only have a little time before I have to move on. But unlike the 'grand tour' of far away lands I can return to these new places at my leisure.
I've set up a Facebook account, and right away I'm surprised by the openness and ease by which I am connected to people I know. I entered my school and my (personal) business, and it brought up as potential friends three guys I went to school with. Now that is networking! The first person I added was my wife, who just joined recently at the request of some of her friends, but she has no idea what it is all about. Then I found a few guys I had worked with, scattered to the ends of the earth. This is the amazing thing, I would be hard pressed to track down an email or even a phone number for them, but just by entering their names I have found them. Obviously, being computer-savvy nerds like myself it was a reasonable guess that they would already have accounts. I think in my case settling down and starting a family has taken me off-line much more so I haven't investigated these newer sites. Ten or fifteen years ago I am sure I would have been seriously addicted.
I also noticed that Facebook is so much more slick and polished than MySpace, it doesn't look like it was designed by a 12-year old (albeit a 12-year old with art school grunge sensibilities). The technology behind it is 'more Web 2.0' as well, it updates the pages dynamically as you work with them.
The only reservation I have is that I am not completely sure about the privacy issues. I'm used to using usernames that don't reveal who I am, not because I have anything to hide, but because the internet makes profiling people so much more convenient than has been possible before. I'm old enough to know that one doesn't put all of their personal details online for the world to see, although I'm sure I am uninteresting enough not to worry about 'stalkers'. I can see that there is potential for these communities to be misused, consider kids choosing who gets to be their friend and who is excluded.
I've been on LinkedIn for a few years now, which is more or less a Facebook for business. It lets you link up with friends and people you have worked with before, with the aim of building networks that may prove useful for business opportunities.
I've set up a Facebook account, and right away I'm surprised by the openness and ease by which I am connected to people I know. I entered my school and my (personal) business, and it brought up as potential friends three guys I went to school with. Now that is networking! The first person I added was my wife, who just joined recently at the request of some of her friends, but she has no idea what it is all about. Then I found a few guys I had worked with, scattered to the ends of the earth. This is the amazing thing, I would be hard pressed to track down an email or even a phone number for them, but just by entering their names I have found them. Obviously, being computer-savvy nerds like myself it was a reasonable guess that they would already have accounts. I think in my case settling down and starting a family has taken me off-line much more so I haven't investigated these newer sites. Ten or fifteen years ago I am sure I would have been seriously addicted.
I also noticed that Facebook is so much more slick and polished than MySpace, it doesn't look like it was designed by a 12-year old (albeit a 12-year old with art school grunge sensibilities). The technology behind it is 'more Web 2.0' as well, it updates the pages dynamically as you work with them.
The only reservation I have is that I am not completely sure about the privacy issues. I'm used to using usernames that don't reveal who I am, not because I have anything to hide, but because the internet makes profiling people so much more convenient than has been possible before. I'm old enough to know that one doesn't put all of their personal details online for the world to see, although I'm sure I am uninteresting enough not to worry about 'stalkers'. I can see that there is potential for these communities to be misused, consider kids choosing who gets to be their friend and who is excluded.
I've been on LinkedIn for a few years now, which is more or less a Facebook for business. It lets you link up with friends and people you have worked with before, with the aim of building networks that may prove useful for business opportunities.
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