How will Friendship's role change with the new SL web-profile-based social network?

[Opensource Obscure]

With the new "social" profiles, Friendship may get a whole new role: now it makes more sense to offer friendship to someone we have never met in-world, basing on common "Interests" and comments from them.

If we want to read all public updates from someone, it seems she needs to be in our friendlist.

Surely many users won't use the web social network and the web messagging system; but for those users who will use it, do you think the role of the SL Friendlist will change? How?

(if you need to test the web messagging feel free to leave a message on my profile and/or offer Friendship requests)

[valerie Inshan]

This is certainly an interesting topic but it would be more appropriate to post this in the General Discussion forum, not in the Q&A... :smileywink:

[Penny Patton]

This is a very good question, and while I doubt there's a single, clear-cut answer I do believe some aspects to this are already appearing. It helps to realize that Second Life's "Friendship" feature was always flawed and in need of an overhaul. The reasons for this are already being amplified by the new social features added to profiles.

SecondLife's "Friendship" feature never offered much in the way of organization. The whole name shows how limited the system is. We have a "Friend list" where we add "friends". How many people on your "Friend list" are actually friends? How many are acquaintenances, business associates, contacts relating to group projects, etcetera?

Instead of a "Friend list" we should have a "Contact list" in which we can organize our contacts into categories based on our relationship. Simple Instant Messaging clients offered this functionality in the 90's and it's long been clamoured for in SL. 

 We need the ability to manage our privacy levels based on those groups. I'll certainly want to share more with actual friends than a random stranger I met very briefly and may never speak to again. The new social features make this an even more pressing matter.

 We should have new non-contact list features as well. What if I have a favourite builder and I don't knpow them personally so I'm not on their Contact list, but I want to follow their public feed?  There should be a "Follow" feature linked to the new profiles in this way. Of course, it would be subject to the privacy settings each ndividual user sets up.

 These are just a few of the more obvious thoughts on the matter. I'm sure we'll see a lot more in the coming days.

[sandi Mexicola]

 

One thing I think might happen is many people will have more friends than they would otherwise.  This brings to mind a second question: is there a limit to how many Second Life friends a Second Life avatar can have?

[Jaylin Wytchwood]

Not at all. My Profile is barred from everyone outside SL, and i wont use this Webcrap.

 

[Venus Petrov]

We already have IMs and PMs and, in some cases, emails, to contact inworld friends.  I do not care for a 'FB' type of thing in addition to what is already available.

I joined FB only under duress from RL family members who wanted to post rather than phone or email me (in some cases, do all three).