#11 - Friends

Anyone rememember the 1989 Jody Watley collaboration with Eric B and Rakim? The song, which peaked on the billboard chart at #9, was called 'Friends.'

Frienship is the subject of today's exercise. But not in the way you know it or even in the way they sang about 18 years ago.

How so?

Danah Boyd, a social networking pundit, puts it this way (you should only read her linked article if you've got some time on your hands - it is long...):

“Are you my friend? Yes or no?” This question, while fundamentally odd, is a key component of social network sites. Participants must select who on the system they deem to be ‘Friends.’ Their choice is publicly displayed for all to see and becomes the backbone for networked participation.

So, participants publicly identify their 'friends.' That's something new, fair enough. But the backbone for networked participation?

Imagine this scenario:

Herman gets home from school on friday night and has no idea what he's going to do for the weekend. He logs into his MySpace profile and sees that more than 20 of his MySpace friends are also logged in. Instead of reaching for his phone, he writes up a short posting on his bulletin board ("hey - is anything going on tonight?") and clicks send - this goes to everyone on his friends list. Within a minute, 4 of his MySpace friends have added 'comments' to his profile with invitations to join them.

And let's take a few steps back - imagine how much easier it becomes to stay in touch with friends you'd typically lose site of. From high school? College? Three jobs ago? Do you see the value here?

Why should any of this matter to libraries?

Our patrons, the younger ones in particular, are using MySpace like we use the telephone for communication. If we're on MySpace and other social networking sites we'll be there when they need us.

This point takes us to today's pleasantly brief Discovery Exercise - invite KCLS Learning 2.0 to become your MySpace friend.

1. Log in to your newly created MySpace page (page will open in a new window).
   
2. You should be returned to your MySpace profile.
   
3. From here, go to your web browser address bar and enter the following URL: www.myspace.com/kcls27things
   
4. This will take you to the Learning 2.0 MySpace profile.
   
5. Look below the Learning 2.0 image and you'll see the 'Contacting KCLS Learning 2.0' box - click on 'Add to Friends'
   
   
   
6. Follow the instructions and that's all - you'll get an email as soon as we approve your friendship request (hopefully within a day or two).
   

That, everyone, is all for today's Discovery Exercise and for the week.

First postscript - remember, you are welcome to cancel your MySpace account when we've finished up the Learning 2.0 program. Here's what you'll do:

1. Log in to MySpace, click on 'edit profile' (it's just under your name)
   
2. Click on 'account settings' (its in the top right corner of the screen)
   
3. Click on 'cancel account' (its in red near the top of the page).
   
4. You'll get a cancellation confirmation email - click on the link included and you're done.

Second postscript - that Jody Watley/Eric B and Rakim song? The video is up on Youtube - Eric B comes in at the 1:40 mark...

Third postscript (added at 2pm) - who is Tom? He's the guy who is automatically your friend when you sign up, a MySpace employee. Want to make him disappear from your profile? Scroll down to the friends on your profile, click on 'Edit Friends,' check the box next to his picture, click on the 'Delete Selected' icon. Once he's gone, you too can wear a 'Tom is NOT my friend' t-shirt...

Next up: Tagging, Technocrati and Folksonomies...