

Properly calling acquaintances such and not friends - jonsteinberg
http://jonsteinberg.com/2010/04/acquaintances/

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scott_s
Jon, your running "Me Real Time" is extremely distracting. It kept changing
while I was trying to read your post, and my eyes would involuntarily shift
for a moment. It's frustrating.

I didn't realize I could click to pause it until just now when I went to find
out its title - I was trying so hard _not_ to read it! But it's also not a
good idea to require your site's readers to click something so they can focus
on your posts.

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dasil003
Also, it's not real time. If it actually changed when you posted something
(preferably with an animated transition) then it might be worth it.

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duck
I think you could blame Facebook (and other social platforms) for 25% of this
misuse and human nature for the other 75%.

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ryanelkins
I also find it difficult when sites like LinkedIn or Facebook want you to
categorize your relationship, especially when that relationship is in its
infancy. It seems a bit presumptuous to say "I've done business with X" when I
just met them, even in a business context.

I think it would be interesting if social sites and social graphs let you
somehow define the quality of the relationship (each side could rate it and
neither could see the other's rating). I'd like to see my strongest links to
other people - even if it's not necessarily the shortest path.

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cookiecaper
In my experience, most people speak of acquaintances as such, like "I know a
guy..." or "I worked with a guy...". Maybe I'm just not rich enough to have
associates who try to impress by name-dropping.

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dasil003
That's exactly the comment I was gonna leave. Acquaintance works in writing,
but I can't imagine how to say it in casual conversation without sounding like
a snob or a douche.

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GFischer
It works in Spanish :) ("conocido" is a much common word than acquaintance)

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gojomo
The tendency towards inflated-familiarity varies by region and industry. I
think LA/entertainment led the way, but online social networks are bringing
the same friend-inflation worldwide.

