A few months ago I decided to investigate Bebo – because that’s where the kids were playing. More specifically I decided to investigate Bebo because that’s where my kids were playing.
So I logged in and made ‘friends’ with a couple of my own children. I explored their pages and spied on their friendships. I discovered the younger one was heavily into skinning (making new eye catching designs for his page) and seemed to carry over school conversations with his friends. My older kids seem to like making plans for the weekend or catching up with long lost childhood friends. I got to see photos that I’d never seen before (many I wished never to see again as well!).
Only my youngest child has ever expressed any sort of dismay at my being ‘on’ Bebo. Being as how he is still just 13 and lives under my roof and conducts his online life through a computer I have paid for we have come to an uneasy sort of arrangement. I’ll occasionally have a look through his and his mates’ pages but I won’t ask to be a friend or acknowledge my own existence. That would be highly uncool.
A few weeks ago I got a couple of invites to join Facebook. I ignored them. Then some sort of brain explosion happened and like a whole lot of other Kiwis I decided to join. Immediately I had a couple of friends that I’d met through this and other blogs. Then I found some extended family members and a couple of young teachers I’d worked with … now I have … twelve friends. Gosh. Now what?
Well. I have answered a couple of quizzes and added some photos. Every so often I change my (Twitter-like) status … Nicki is in bed … Nicki is out of bed … thinking about work … not thinking about … . I’ve joined a couple of groups and added some applications – my cat is now on Facebook (thanks Lou)and has some new friends.
It’s all very interesting and could be quite addictive but (like Bebo) I’m the oldest person on there. And because of that I’m not finding a lot of my friends.
So when I started getting emails about iYomu I joined that too. Yes, I am now a serial social network joiner. Now this is where it all gets interesting. iYomu is totally different because it’s built for grown ups. It’s designed around being able to make connections with people based on your interests (iYLocate and iYCommunity) and also your personality profile (iYDNA). Although I recognise a few names on iYomu at the moment it’s all a bit hazy. Conceptually it looks really interesting – if a bit long winded. Doing the iYDNA ‘personailty test’ annoyed me because the statements didn’t work for me at all.
So, again, now what? I’ll continue to dabble in Facebook and iYomu and I’ll continue to be a ‘net voyeur on my kids’ Bebo pages. Is social networking just for the ‘kids’? I’m not sure. I’ve read some of danah boyd’s work (most recently here and here) and that has helped me clarify somethings.
More to come. I’m sure!
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