> I will say the value of these supposed social connections to someone you > can never meet is very low and nearly worthless. You don't really know > anyone until you meet them in person. Whether you believe that or not is up > to you. In my 17 years of experience with online communities, BBSes, > mailing lists, etc. this has been a firm constant. >
You really don't "know" people you are meeting them in person either. There were some people who lived in communities with Dennis Rader, worked with him, and even let their children stay the night at his house. They would swear up and down they knew him and that he was a good man. WRONG. Technically you don't really know your teachers or professors either. What if you take an online class? It doesn't mean because you never meet them in person that they don't have something to offer you. It's the same with your other social connections as well. You don't need to truly know them in order to benefit from them. None of the previous stated technologies you mentioned had the impact then that social networks have today. We live in a rapidly changing technology driven world. We have to concede that some of the changes aren't like previous experiences we have had. We can embrace the technology and learn to use it to our advantage or we can become irrelevant technology dinosars and tell kids how computers used to use punch cards :) -- *Nathan Hamiel* http://hexsec.com <http://hexsec.com>http://twitter.com/nathanhamiel blog: www.neohaxor.org
