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The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

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Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#41

Post by rhizome »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #6
nobodysfool wrote: post #3

It seems to me the problem is that his 'friends' aren't really friends at all. He lists 'Robert Scoble' as a friend? He's a news source... he's going to have thousands of 'friends' that aren't really his friends.

That is the author's point as I read it. Once again Facebook's limited notion of social relationships creates a poor (and sometimes creepy) user experience. The Facebook model works great at college, kinda just after, and then not so much.

Facebook allows people to follow others (one-way association) without being a confirmed friend (two-way).

Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#43

Post by stonemetal »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #21
ChuckMcM wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is the author's point as I read it. Once again Facebook's limited notion of social relationships creates a poor (and sometimes creepy) user experience. The Facebook model works great at college, kinda just after, and then not so much.

> Facebook's limited notion of social relationships creates a poor (and sometimes creepy) user experience That's the thing I kind of wonder about every time there's a discussion related to Facebook here - I personally can't see neither the "limited notion of social relationships" nor a "poor/creepy user experience". I'm curious where that difference of perception comes from. > Facebook model works great at college, k…

I personally can't see neither the "limited notion of social relationships"

So you only have one binary relationship with everyone(friend\not friend)?

In the context of friends of friends I can see several different categories: current friends(I might be interested in who their current friends are. I might run into their current friends while hanging out with them. I am probably not interested in their old friends who live 500 miles away.), old friends(I will probably never interact with their current friends because they live 500+ miles away. I maybe interested in their old friends because it might help me reconnect with a mutual old friend.), family(I don't want to see their current or old friends since I don't have anything in common with most of my family.)

Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#44

Post by tchock23 »

ececconi wrote: post #9

You're more likely to have a conversation with a friend of your friend. It's generally much less threatening than talking to a complete stranger. This is how cocktail parties work, people are connected mutually through a friend. I'd venture to say that most relationships are facilitated through a mutual friend. When I tell people I go to the bar by myself to see what kind of people I end up talking to, many of my pee…

I'd say that is true if you're truly talking about "friends," but since "friends" on most social sites actually means an acquaintance, it's much less interesting.

Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#45

Post by jellicle »

rhizome wrote: post #37
jellicle wrote: post #15

Not sure that a business based on taking a photo of something and asking people "what is this?" is destined for success. Isn't that something that Google Now/Siri will probably automatically answer in the near future? "It's a left-handed lug nut for a 1975 Vespa scooter. Click here to buy it now on Ebay!" "It's a powdered doughnut, and judging from your location, you're at Acme Doughnuts on Main St. They have a 2-for…

Not sure that a business based on taking a photo of something and asking people "what is this?" is destined for success. Isn't that something that Google Now/Siri will probably automatically answer in the near future? These services require data-entry on the part of their users in order to seed these identification engines. I see this data-entry as a hidden value of the user, and part of why network effects are so va…

Doesn't Google have a sort of "index" and "search engine" of billions of photos with captions, link headings, title text, alternate text, and so on?

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=lug+nut

You're telling me it only works one way, from text to images, and doesn't work the other way? But Google already lets you upload an image to search...

http://www.google.com/imghp

In any case, Google can simply say "I think it's a lug nut. Do you agree Y/N?" And in effect, play 20 questions with its entire userbase. In very short order it would be capable of identifying anything.

Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#46

Post by jellicle »

tomswartz07 wrote: post #33
jellicle wrote: post #15

Not sure that a business based on taking a photo of something and asking people "what is this?" is destined for success. Isn't that something that Google Now/Siri will probably automatically answer in the near future? "It's a left-handed lug nut for a 1975 Vespa scooter. Click here to buy it now on Ebay!" "It's a powdered doughnut, and judging from your location, you're at Acme Doughnuts on Main St. They have a 2-for…

Although farfetched, the idea of this gives me tingles.

"That's your girlfriend Ally, wearing a ghost costume. You almost got it past me, but the guy across the street watched her put on her costume with his Google Glasses and a pair of binoculars. Buy binoculars at Amazon, click here. Buy window curtains at Walmart, click here."

Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#47

Post by ececconi »

tchock23 wrote: post #44
ececconi wrote: post #9

You're more likely to have a conversation with a friend of your friend. It's generally much less threatening than talking to a complete stranger. This is how cocktail parties work, people are connected mutually through a friend. I'd venture to say that most relationships are facilitated through a mutual friend. When I tell people I go to the bar by myself to see what kind of people I end up talking to, many of my pee…

I'd say that is true if you're truly talking about "friends," but since "friends" on most social sites actually means an acquaintance, it's much less interesting.

For me Foursquare is a good measure if someone is a friend or not. Too bad most of my friends aren't on it.

Wasn't Path's idea to be a network only used with friends? again, too bad none of my friends are on it.

Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#48

Post by TeMPOraL »

stonemetal wrote: post #43
TeMPOraL wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Facebook's limited notion of social relationships creates a poor (and sometimes creepy) user experience That's the thing I kind of wonder about every time there's a discussion related to Facebook here - I personally can't see neither the "limited notion of social relationships" nor a "poor/creepy user experience". I'm curious where that difference of perception comes from. > Facebook model works great at college, k…

I personally can't see neither the "limited notion of social relationships" So you only have one binary relationship with everyone(friend\not friend)? In the context of friends of friends I can see several different categories: current friends(I might be interested in who their current friends are. I might run into their current friends while hanging out with them. I am probably not interested in their old friends wh…

> So you only have one binary relationship with everyone(friend\not friend)?

Basically yes, but let's place the binarization threshold on whether or not I recognize someone and care enough to have a conversation with that person in the future.

Neither Facebook, nor real life support an explicit "scale" of friendship. You don't define someone as 90% - BFF or 63% - just friend, etc. Relationships are defined by shared experiences and mutual feelings, and those are supported by the Facebook platform in the same way as they are supported by the direct face-to-face communication platform.

In other words, Facebook stores connections explicitly (calling them "friends" might be what confuses people), but is otherwise as much of a sandbox as the real life. You can do whatever you want, talk with whomever about whatever you care - that is what creates friendship.

Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#49

Post by rhizome »

jellicle wrote: post #45
rhizome wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure that a business based on taking a photo of something and asking people "what is this?" is destined for success. Isn't that something that Google Now/Siri will probably automatically answer in the near future? These services require data-entry on the part of their users in order to seed these identification engines. I see this data-entry as a hidden value of the user, and part of why network effects are so va…

Doesn't Google have a sort of "index" and "search engine" of billions of photos with captions, link headings, title text, alternate text, and so on? https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=lug+nut You're telling me it only works one way, from text to images, and doesn't work the other way? But Google already lets you upload an image to search... http://www.google.com/imghp In any case, Google can simply say "I think…

The lug nut question is an important verification step and indeed data-entry on the part of the user.

Re: The Friends Of My Friends Are Not My Friends

#50

Post by pavel_lishin »

jellicle wrote: post #46
tomswartz07 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although farfetched, the idea of this gives me tingles.

"That's your girlfriend Ally, wearing a ghost costume. You almost got it past me, but the guy across the street watched her put on her costume with his Google Glasses and a pair of binoculars. Buy binoculars at Amazon, click here. Buy window curtains at Walmart, click here."

"To schedule an appointment with a dermatologist about her potentially pre-cancerous mole, click here."
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