Social networking sites are like nightclubs?

[randomness]

marginaleye, referencing the MySpace to Facebook to Google+ trend: "I fear, however, the horrible possibility that social networking is going to be a perpetual treadmill of pursuing the 'in crowd' and fleeing prole drift, stretching out from here to infinity."

Well, it is how clubbing seems to go. Some dance clubs do last a while, but the crowd does seem to follow the trendiest new place. So there is some social precedent here.

I suppose if one was creating a social networking site one might keep that particular dynamic in mind.

Comments

[marginaleye.livejournal.com]

It's a horrible possibility because it's a lot of work because re-creating one's online profile, re-connecting with everyone, learning the quirks in each new system, and shuffling everybody onto the correct side of one or more filtration mechanisms (Circles, Friends lists, and so forth) takes time and energy.

Socializing, moreover, isn't a happy self-sustaining, self-rewarding thing for introverts. It's work. You may know, intellectually, that it's important for one's mental heath and crucial to social success, but it's still... work. It's like eating nutritious vegetables whose taste you don't really like, or like dragging yourself to the gym even when you're not really in the mood for it.