Comments on: Are we really friends? The trouble with buddy lists in social applications. http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/ Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:44:44 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: somac http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/comment-page-1/#comment-11320 somac Mon, 14 May 2007 04:08:47 +0000 http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/#comment-11320 Nice thoughts, that i completely agree with. Using <a href="http://www.domin8myspace.com" rel="nofollow">Myspace</a> i have had hundreds of friends that i deleted, just because i realized that i really didn't know them. Nice thoughts, that i completely agree with. Using Myspace i have had hundreds of friends that i deleted, just because i realized that i really didn’t know them.

]]> By: Groups, Groupings, and Taming My Buddy List. And Twitter. at Climb to the Stars (Stephanie Booth) http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/comment-page-1/#comment-11313 Groups, Groupings, and Taming My Buddy List. And Twitter. at Climb to the Stars (Stephanie Booth) Wed, 09 May 2007 09:54:05 +0000 http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/#comment-11313 [...] that you have to mark me back as a contact too. I think that a great source of confusion is the general use of the word “friend” in social networks. There is an emotional component in there that makes it rather difficult to say “well, you [...] [...] that you have to mark me back as a contact too. I think that a great source of confusion is the general use of the word “friend” in social networks. There is an emotional component in there that makes it rather difficult to say “well, you [...]

]]> By: » Links for 2007 04 11 http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/comment-page-1/#comment-11307 » Links for 2007 04 11 Tue, 08 May 2007 04:51:01 +0000 http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/#comment-11307 [...] Are we really friends? The trouble with buddy lists in social applications. The trouble with buddy lists is that we end up collecting friends like baseball cards. Because I’m on your buddy list, it could be because we’re really closely connected, it could be because we met once at a conference two years ago, or it could be be (tags: buddy, list, reputation, trust, public, private, Social_software, social) [...] [...] Are we really friends? The trouble with buddy lists in social applications. The trouble with buddy lists is that we end up collecting friends like baseball cards. Because I’m on your buddy list, it could be because we’re really closely connected, it could be because we met once at a conference two years ago, or it could be be (tags: buddy, list, reputation, trust, public, private, Social_software, social) [...]

]]> By: ThomasPurves.com » Where are we? Mobile Geolocation and Social Presence http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/comment-page-1/#comment-11302 ThomasPurves.com » Where are we? Mobile Geolocation and Social Presence Mon, 07 May 2007 15:49:31 +0000 http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/#comment-11302 [...] each other, but sometimes we do. And when we do, it would be great to see who from my buddy list (my real buddy list) might be nearby and we could ping each other, want to meet up? or hey, the movie is about to start [...] [...] each other, but sometimes we do. And when we do, it would be great to see who from my buddy list (my real buddy list) might be nearby and we could ping each other, want to meet up? or hey, the movie is about to start [...]

]]> By: paolo http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/comment-page-1/#comment-11120 paolo Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:13:25 +0000 http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/#comment-11120 You are completely right, and this social pressure is even stronger when you want to express "negative" relationships, such as "I don't trust this user". Epinions.com for instance keeps the Block list private while the Web of Trust is public. I think it is important to emphasize the "You are who you know" aspect. For instance, on LinkedIn I have incentives in accepting friend requests from high profile professionals and not from random-looking profiles. In this case, the more the better is not totally true. CouchSurfing.com is another example, it explicitly suggest to keep the network about real life encounters. When I logged in the first time (not deeply understanding the concept), I started adding friends and all of them rejected my request explaining the rationale and the fact we should only connect if we met face-to-face. In this case, the social network policy was able to auto-regulate. But this is becoming more difficult as the network grows very quickly. You are completely right, and this social pressure is even stronger when you want to express “negative” relationships, such as “I don’t trust this user”. Epinions.com for instance keeps the Block list private while the Web of Trust is public.

I think it is important to emphasize the “You are who you know” aspect. For instance, on LinkedIn I have incentives in accepting friend requests from high profile professionals and not from random-looking profiles. In this case, the more the better is not totally true.

CouchSurfing.com is another example, it explicitly suggest to keep the network about real life encounters. When I logged in the first time (not deeply understanding the concept), I started adding friends and all of them rejected my request explaining the rationale and the fact we should only connect if we met face-to-face.
In this case, the social network policy was able to auto-regulate. But this is becoming more difficult as the network grows very quickly.

]]> By: Ryan Coleman http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/comment-page-1/#comment-7285 Ryan Coleman Wed, 28 Feb 2007 05:34:44 +0000 http://www.thomaspurves.com/2007/02/27/are-we-really-friends-the-trouble-with-buddy-lists-in-social-applications/#comment-7285 Jeez - you could have just said no to my LinkedIn request.... Seriously though, great post, it's becoming more and more of a challenge. More recently I've started to look for other indicators within the Social Networks - like recommendations on LinkedIN anyone can have someone as a contact but I view a recc. as an endorsement of not just the other person but also their relationship. Jeez – you could have just said no to my LinkedIn request….

Seriously though, great post, it’s becoming more and more of a challenge. More recently I’ve started to look for other indicators within the Social Networks – like recommendations on LinkedIN anyone can have someone as a contact but I view a recc. as an endorsement of not just the other person but also their relationship.

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