On 31-Oct-09, at 11:06 AM, Barry Wellman wrote:
Nancy, I think it is more complex. What if there are really interesting people whose posts are often filled with gems, but at the same posts some self-infatuated or status update stuff ("going for breakfast") ("sitting in my garden") stuff which is not interesting to almost all.
"All"... a statistical term used in generalizations. My "all" on facebook is only my friends who almost all expect a few aoirs, I have met face to face and shared some good times. These are often coworkers, high school friends, musicians in my scene and a few bosses, family etc. As I set my stuff there to viewable "only by my friends" I not so sure in my case that your claim that this is all uninteresting holds. It is your judgment or someone else's like the journalist's but hey who are you/they to say? Most of my status updates are these ordinary day to day things like today I am telling people I am home doing paperwork but will be going downtown shopping today. Now I think, I and others do post witty stuff as well. I am a poet at times. But sharing wit with friends is cool too. I am not writing on facebook for the mass media, as my blogs can do that if people are interested in the themes I write about. I think you are assuming these interesting people are public and I am talking about a private facebook social network. Not private from the adverts but private for the ordinary person. I am sure you know something of private networks so now what do you say? Peter Timusk, B.Math statistics (2002), B.A. legal studies (2006) Carleton University Systems Science Graduate student, University of Ottawa. just trying to stay linear. Read by hundreds of lurkers every week. kiitos paljon, merci, thank you and muchas gracias for reading.