Folks, I am asking for informational help. Someone has been editing the Wikipedia article on "Social Network" to assert that software called "Circle of Friends" (written by Jonathan Bishop in the UK) was the progenitor of other social networking software, such as Friendster, MySpace. I've asked repeatedly for documentation, but don't really get any. Does anyone know about this, or about simple assertions that "Circle of Trust" led to eOpinions, et al. In fact, is there a good history of social networkING services around, in either paper or book form. (Yes, I know about Howard Rheingold's wonderful book, but I was thinking of something that really tries to be a broad history. BTW, there is a separate Wikipedia artcle, "Social Network Services" about social networking software. It really needs expansion, if you are so inclined. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Room 418 Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-7162 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php Elvis wouldn't be singing "Return to Sender" these days _______________________________________________________________________