Ice Cream Networking

I have accomplished much this day, encompassing both intellectual pursuits (an, a balnaced life). Yet, between chopping wood and editing papers, I haven't finished our classwork, and now it is time to complete the social networking lesson plan. And Mother is coming for dinner in half an hour.

Good thing I have this blog to talk to.

Our blogs are a kind of social networking, conversing and sharing our thoughts and even our feelings about the work. When we say "social", do we think of work, or ice cream? Is a social network a more casual, friendly place to do this work? I always think of social networks as a kind of lounge, where all our work is done over a nice hot cup of tea. Blogs allow us to share from our own defined space; a social network combines those personal spaces into one portal centered around the content.

In a sense it is simply another layer, another way of grouping and organizing around central ideas. The Blackboard space is a network with opportunities for sharing; the social network is the same idea with the addition of multiple levels of interaction and participation: discussion forums, blogs, chat and more all on the same page with potentially equal levels of authorship.

Is it very different in a fundamental way, or is it just another kind technological arrangement? It will be interesting to compare it with wikis and blogs, and other still emerging types of interactive web spaces, and see what kind of networks you create and imagine.