Hmm, did you say April 17? That's quite a bit down the line. At any rate, I just crossposted this column on FB, wondering what my "friends" will think (I have 921 of 'em...).
One question: why is it that finding out through a SNS who your friends associate with increases your prejudice? Could that information not actually be an important reflection of a person's traits that I may have missed otherwise, and which may lower the esteem I have for that person? Just some food for further thought.

While i was reading down the post and I was hoping some sort of answer :D Anyway the questions are what impulse us.
By the way this is the first time I stumpple this blog and at a glance I see you can really improve the comments form, mainly by allowing to post whithout living the pòst.
Cheers

Bad load of the page :S
However you may take a look at
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/02/27/facebooks-in-house-sociologist-...

Hi!
I find this subject really pertinent to my life. In 1997 I created my first "personal website" (some kind of ancestor to Facebook) at the age of 11. Ever since then I've been involved in socializing electronically. I had friends both online and off (not necessarily the same folks) until I fell into a social scene of people more similar to myself who did spend time with each other away from computers, but also did a lot of back-and-forth on online forums and blogs. These are people who are very much still in my life now almost 10 years later, and we all continue to write online and socialize out in the "real world".
Isn't it tricky to philosophize about something while being in the midst of it? I'm glad other people out there are having discussions, because it's such a personal thing to me at this moment that I don't know how to objectively talk about it!
But I do think that interacting via online personas does involve some amount of fantasy play--filling in gaps within people's personalities that don't necessarily get filled out via day-to-day interaction. Then again people could very well do this without the use of the internet or social networking tools. Hmm
Thanks for the Wicked Radio Shows!
-Silvi

I think that social networking has managed to change the way interact and relate with one another. It has become a medium of communication that has unprecedented potential, both positively and negatively. What I'm wondering about is if this is merely a new medium for interpersonal relations, or if this is a new form of it entirely.

It is definitely a change for one another to know things about each other prior to ever even meeting for the first time.
Additionally, it is also a change that one can so easily represent themselves via textual descriptions however they want to. This also opens the door for possible deception.
Finally the point about putting so much information in a public forum where it can easily be saved in some server farm or on someone's hard disk is a bit unnerving for people who care at all about privacy.

Friends Complete Series 1-10 Collection DVD Box Set (40 dvds),a sitcom behemoth of the last 10 years, Friends shot out of the gate in 1994 with snappy writing and an attractive cast.

Some interesting points here, but i feel the main issues regarding this topic are the issues of identity, perception and community, none of which were really discussed in full here.
We all know that the info about ourselves will be used as useful marketing research for companies looking to market products etc...and whether this is a bad thing or not is kind of secondary, as far as i'm concerned, in regards to the important aspects of understanding why SN has become such a prominent aspect of our culture (and i say culture in the broadest sense as this is now a global issue).
Questions i am interested in with relation to this subject are:
1: How much of our true identities go into the construction of our SN (online/web) identities and to what extent are these identities a manipulation of perception in order to create a desired perception by others.
2: What are the true perceived reactions by others to these identities and how far are they removed from the original desire of the person?
4: (possibly the most metaphysical) Are SN identities an attempt to exist outside of the realms of 'real life' human mortality in an attempt to create an immortal self.
3: Is the popularity of SN a direct reaction to the break down of real life communities and if so what does this mean for the future of person to person relationships and communication?
Although i have opinions on these questions (and these are but a few of the questions i find interesting with regards to this subject) i would like to start a discussion based on these questions if anyone is interested???
Thanks
Simon.

I actually just finished a project, producing a philosophy based social network, where people can ask questions in exchange for philosophical answers for members. If anybody is interested it's called qphia - the quest for philosophical answers, and can be found at http://qphia.com

Once again you fall fawnfully under the spell of the hard AI guys. Heed the mysterians! Read Roger Penrose! Enter the Chinese room! Ray Kurzweil is bunk. Experience great art and refute solipsism.

There were some good questions you have put up, some thing to think over. Are we commodifying ourselves? thats a brilliant question.

Though a funny stuff but it needs several rounds of thought. Identifying oneself to some products or logos tells a great deal about one's mental state but it does not characterize one's personality. No doubt it shows how little we know about ourselves and our true potential as a human being. Regarding knowing someone by some information only is not a good idea though this is practically happening now in social media. It only signifies what we want others to know about us not about our true self.

Actually the intricacies of relationship is beyond the understanding of common man. People generally can't feel the cause behind their urge to relate to other. There are so many criteria and driving forces but they only act instinctively. Yes, social networking sites change the equation of relationship or how we relate to each other. But it is like exploring new possibility or horizon of human understanding of relation. Social media give the platform to perform relationship experiments and tomorrow we will be at a better position to define the basic question of society and that is about relationship.