When I think of these social networking sites , I think of my nieces and nephew who use them. Usually it appears they are connecting with friends they see at school. What's the point? I ask myself. Coming from a small town though, they are connecting with friends they don't see alot too. They are introducing their friends to each other who live 70 km's away and 300 km's away. So I can see how the site does connect people instantly where previously it was expensive long distance phone calls or snail mail. They are sharing photos of each other, puting faces to names. I worry about privacy and predtors. Pessimistically I remind them of the dangers (I'm not the only one to) they roll their eyes, looking bored, "we KNOW" they respond. 80 million users of Facebook., I think it's here to stay. Optmistically I can see how using this technology in public libraries bring people with special community interests together. Ning is an excellent site. So this technology is of benefit for special interest groups like Ning users.
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