Let’s Be Friends
danah boyd has published a new paper at First Monday, an online academic journal. In it, she examines the concept of Friendship on social networks, as opposed to friendship in the offline world. Briefly, Friends (capital ‘F’) are about ‘identity performance’ - they reflect who you are online and offline - and may arrive on someone’s list for a host of reasons:
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Actual friends
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Acquaintances, family members, colleagues
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It would be socially inappropriate to say no because you know them
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Having lots of Friends makes you look popular
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It’s a way of indicating that you are a fan (of that person, band, product, etc.)
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Your list of Friends reveals who you are
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Their Profile is cool so being Friends makes you look cool
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Collecting Friends lets you see more people (Friendster)
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It’s the only way to see a private Profile (MySpace)
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Being Friends lets you see someone’s bulletins and their Friends-only blog posts (MySpace)
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You want them to see your bulletins, private Profile, private blog (MySpace)
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You can use your Friends list to find someone later
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It’s easier to say yes than no
While the idea of nine thousand friends seems absurd to non-participants, because Friends are not necessarily friends, but the system provides no other form of relationship, they may be performing other roles in the construction of the MySpacer’s online identity.