I'm not exactly sure when I joined Facebook. I do recall signing up some time ago then pretty much forgetting about it. Other than checking out any group in which I had a vague interest and realizing I am waaaay older than the average member, there wasn't much point in using Facebook, other than to post comments like "Yeah; (your interest here) ROCKS!" ad nauseam.
Then Ning came along. Like Facebook, I have no freakin' memory of when/how/why I learned of it, but that didn't stop me from joining (is there a twelve-step for joining social networking sites indiscriminately?). Ning was a little better in that there were library/librarian specific groups, thus stroking my super-ego with the pallid rationale I was joining for "professional" reasons. It also helped there were faces I recognized, mostly from other library-oriented social networking sites, but when you're besotted with the idea of adding a small auditorium of instant friends with one click, it's all good.
So I joined. I joined four groups, in fact. Then I did what comes naturally: I forgot about it. Then the friend invites began.
It started as a trickle: a message a day announcing that somebody wanted to be my friend. Judging from the photos they looked like very nice folks. So I added them. Then I started to get two or three friend requests a day. After a week, I must have gotten four or five requests every time I logged into my e-mail accounts (yes, that's e-mail accounts). My dream became a nightmare: with these many friends I'm going to have to mail enough Christmas cards to fill a Costco warehouse.
And as for my newfound friends: I love you all. You know I do. So please don't be offend if I say that for most of you, I wouldn't recognize you even if you came up and bitch-slapped me in front of an ALA panel discussion on resource sharing. So we need to rectify the situation: we need to have one big-ass party just to meet one another--say, at ALA in Washington, DC this summer?
(Hey Kids! Interested in learning about Ning? Try finding the social network I created. It's fun!)
What I'm Reading Dept: Declare by Tim Powers. Powers is the only writer with the knack of creating characters who spout huge amounts of exposition but can still be wildly entertaining....
Posted by absherl at April 29, 2007 10:20 PM