Social Blog Networks

It seems the social network and the blogsphere are coming together into a new thing. (again, with the buzzwords)

Could it be that a trend has begun? I noticed a while back that other social networks had blogs as part of them, MySpace being one of them. The advantage a Friendster blog has over a MySpace Blog is that Friendster offers a RSS feed for a blog. MySpace doesn’t. LiveJournal is one of the largest social networks out there. Its also basically a blogging site, more so than it is a social network really.

I’m frustrated with the variety of “social networks”, to be honest. As far as I am concerned, there is one internet, and I have one “social network” of my own. However, with different cliques of friends dispersed, some on this network, some on that one… It becomes more difficult to communicate easily. Technology is getting in my way here. A social network offers, what, a “profile” which is more limited than a “home page”, and a way to send, also more limited, but somehow glorified email “messages” to my friends. Oh, and don’t forget about the advertisements everywhere. I do prefer ads to fees, but they’re both party poopers.

Many of my friends don’t feel so down on this stuff, on the other hand. They’re gobbling up memberships to every social network that comes down the pike. They’re sharing pictures. They’re making blogs, forums, rants, raves, etc. And that’s great. I don’t feel so lonely on the internet anymore. They like it, because its easy, and its “new”, so its fun.

Cnet reports

The company that earned some notoriety for firing a blogger is now bringing bloggers into the fold–and hoping to collect fees in the process.

Friendster, a so-called social-networking site of linked personal profiles, launched a beta, or test version, of Friendster Blogs, a section of the site that lets people post and archive the daily musings known as blogs.