

Seth Godin's Thoughts on Social Networking - nader
http://www.brandinfection.com/2009/08/01/seth-godin-on-social-networking/

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nader
"It’s worthless to have lots and lots of friends on Facebook ’cause they’re
not really your friends. They’re just people who didn’t want to offend you by
pressing the ignore button"

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kyro
I'd agree with the last part of that, about people not wanting to offend. I've
done it myself many times. It's an issue I had with Facebook early on. There
was no way to really differentiate my 'friends.' My closest friends had access
and were placed on the same level as those who were just mere acquaintances.
Facebook has taken steps to help users establish stronger connections with
certain groups of people, with their filtered news feeds, and various profile
viewing restrictions, but I don't think they emphasize that enough. I will
admit, that the features they've implemented have made the service more
valuable and meaningful to me, because I can now share media and stay up to
date with those I care to do so with, not with those I met at a conference who
seemed to have tracked down my profile.

So yah, you can 'friend' someone who's not really your friend on Facebook, but
that person can be very easily distanced. And it's probably in Facebook's best
interests to focus on allowing users to establish more meaningful connections,
rather than just acquiring new users. I've heard lots of radio segments
recently about interviewees being subject to a Facebook profile check, and to
parents keeping close tabs on their children, which ultimately makes people
very image conscious, reluctant to say and share things they would've
otherwise said and shared behind closed doors with their friends. So, the way
I see it, the more comfortable I am with sharing information with specific
groups of people, the more I'll say and share, the more Facebook will
understand about the type of person I am, and the more highly targeted I am
with respects to adverts.

~~~
mcantelon
Seeems to me friends are interacted with more than acquaintances. So it would
make sense, if a user's privacy settings allow it, to expose this metric so
it's more apparent which relationships are meaningful.

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socratees
He's put that in to just the right words. While fake networking isn't that
harmful, its something that wouldn't benefit you in anyway.

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msort
Well, if they are kind enough not to ignore you, maybe they will develop to
your friends.

