links for 2011-01-21

  • "Consider the institution of friendship. Every time I hear someone say that Facebook ‘friendship’ should be understood in scare quotes, or that Facebook interaction is not real social interaction, I feel like asking in reply: What makes you think real-world friendships are real? Have you not often felt some sort of amical rapport with a person with whom you interact face-to-face, only to find that in the long run it comes to nothing? How exactly was that fleeting sensation any more real than the discovery and exploration of shared interests and sensibilities with a ‘friend’ one knows only through the mediation of a social-networking site?"
  • Joanna hits it spot on with what direction blogs are going to go this year and in the future – the form isn't dead, but people are using it for longer forms of writing. I'm pruning my feedreader to make room for more substantive works so I have time to read things at length, and when I get an iPad later this year, I'm sure my blog reading will change substantially towards longer more essay-like reading, and I hope, writing.

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