BuddySpace - The Next Generation Social Networking?

September 16th, 2004

CJ (who, BTW, was the only one to respond to my plea for help - so much for connections) writes about a concept called BuddySpace as it related to my query:

“Eventually, he will be able to see not only “presence”, but also geographic location, and depending on configuration “knowledge areas” for his IM contacts. The next useful step would be being able to browse contacts of contacts similar to the reported functionality of SWIM. All of that would have allowed him to narrow in on the person who would have been most helpful in assisting him rather than having to rely on a broadcast and the good graces of the blogosphere.”

Conceptually, this idea is workable (and I’ll take a look at the paper that he cites to), and I hope that IM is used more in the social networking arena. In the library field, networking is very important, as it can help in numerous aspects of our jobs. If I needed a book or journal article that was held in only one library (which happens), I could technically use BuddySpace to not only pinpoint a colleague who is at that location, but contact him/her to assist in providing the material. Interlibrary loan would, obviously, evolve as well. Potential problems? Lots of librarians would need to use BuddySpace (this has to work bilaterally) and have it “on” during work hours, which could bring up numerous other issues. That said, I love the concept.

CJ, the article that you were looking for was entitled, “The Social Butterfly Effect” and was actually from Econtent Magazine.

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