Communication Overtones Comments
You left out reason #4 people ask for "friending":
They want to have more friends than anyone else.
You and I are now just tokens in their online collectible card game.
One other word to watch is "phriends." Often referred to as those that may be watching your activities for nefarious reasons.
This term was introduced to me by a former client (www.imsafer.com) who works in internet security.
You were right the first time, Kami. I DID demand to know about the baby's birth immediately. But I really thought the message would come from your husband, not you!
Thanks for adding your voice to this discussion. I've been selective in adding "friends" too, preferring to have at least some level of relationship with people rather than winning a popularity contest, regardless of the impact on my blog ranking or other measurement scale of influence.
I've never really like the "friend" term, so I'm glad to see at least one site change it.
On Flickr, people are "contacts", unless you want to give them access to private photos. In that case, you have to decide whether to call them friends or family, both of which terms are too specific for my purposes.
Glad to hear you and baby are doing well! Now stop wasting time online! You can go back to relaxing, and being waited on hand-and-foot...
Ike; I don't mind being a card, I just don't like people playing games.
Josh; Okay, I am loving the pfriends reference, something new for my vocabulary -- which some have said is limited.
Connie; My husband, send a text message? Let's get real here.
Eric; I agree that this still is sorting itself out. I am really leary of calling someone a friend if I don't even know who they are; but I am open to getting to know new people. I am a connector, so it is something I enjoy. My real concern is guaging someone's influence by these measures since it invites gaming the system, for which you can see my comment to Ike above.
The Washington Post had a similar viewpoint to friends in an article on Thursday. I'm totally Ok with someone calling me their friend because I don't associate Brick & Mortar values with the online realm.
Instead, I look at as a marketer, and if you want to put yourself in my network, than I consider it an opt-in. In exchange, you can call me your friend. Anyone who reads this can be my "friend." A-listers like Scoble treat the friends thing like this.
On a larger scale, I've seen tremendous pull from my online Twitter and Pownce activities. This pull is a result of a participation is marketing approach to the networks. By spending some time, and not overtly promoting, people seem to rally around the content. Some great Pownce conversations, too. These results were blogged.
GL
Kami: I agree with Eric, enjoy this time at home as much as possible.
hahahahhaha interesting reading....
Content! As I stated in David's post, I feel like I am in high school all over again - popularity contests and passing notes. Did I mention I hated high school?
Thank you for adding your voice (even though) you are supposed to be on LEAVE!
How much of it is a cultural thing?
For a different POV - I come from a country where many people call everyone 'mate'. Thing is at the same time they normally are much more open to the idea of friendship.
I can't wait for the day I can add mates on Twitter..
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