June 2007 - Posts
"Why can’t I add tags to each contact? Tags I pick. Not that are forced on me by some 22-year-old developer who has no idea about what a 42-year-old’s social network looks like."
One of a number of good shots from Social networks as “friend” Nazi (design flaws in Facebook, Jaiku, Twitter).
And I concur. The vast majority of social software (LinkedIn the obvious outlier) does appear to be designed by 22-year-olds for 15-year-olds. I understand why -- simple observation demonstrates them to be the early adopters. But social networking is, as I've all but screamed, just another take on the oldest trick in the species survival handbook -- working together, community, teaming, associating, whatever, to solve problems of common concern. Adults, professionals, can have needs other than identity production and the maintenance of intimate relationships.
BTW, in my new role in MSDN/TechNet, it looks like I might be able to help us take a step or two in that direction. Wouldn't that be something.
As I said, I've played online games for a while. Yes, that includes the classics, though I'd rather not talk about things that will date me. From where I stand, online games really started getting interesting with Diablo. With Asheron's Call (or EQ for some) they really came of age. I've played a couple of WOW characters -- never past level 30. Yes, I know, that means I barely played the game. My oldest son has a level 70 character (and of course a raft of others, but his level 70 druid is his main). For well over a year now I've been following his progression from the battleground, to the Arena, and into the world of raids. He has a full set of Gladiator gear now and is looking for a new guild. (Changing guilds is very interesting -- if you're into this whole thing, at least in part, to maintain pace with the state of the art in community creation and management. More on that later.) His druid kicks butt.
In the meantime, I've started in on Lord of the Rings Online. I'm trying to determine if Turbine learned anything from WOW -- if they've made any improvements. Here's my level 22 Minstrel.
He's been a blast to play -- but you'd have to like healers. I almost always choose healers. In my experience they're the most complex role to assume, and therefore the most interesting. Both my kids avoid healers. They're either DPS guys, or in the case of the Druid, an all around character able to do almost anything fairly well.
I've also joined a kinship. My new kinship is the "Misty Mountaineers". Got to love it. They seem like a fine group.
Turbine has made a tweak or two that I think might make a difference. I like how they've handled PvP better than the way it's done in WOW. I think that despite WOWs astonishing popularity, the way they've dealt with PvP will be their undoing. If I find it offensive, I can only imagine what a high context culture must think. I assume the Blizzard guys are totally aware of the ramifications of the world-building decisions they make and the impact those decisions could make on the popularity of the game in various cultural contexts -- I assume so anyway. I mean they have to be, right?
If you're into it, I play on Firefoot and my game name is Endorfin. Give me a tell.
Things at work have been a bit challenging. It's always a little stressful getting back into the groove after a re-org. That's my excuse anyway. I've been, for the most part, sticking to the schedule, but I'm still in chapter one. Progress has been slow.
On the plus side, I do have a better idea what I don't know. While it's more than I'd hoped, it's manageable.
I'm not sure how Google ranking works anymore -- though at one time I thought I had some clue. It's hard to determine why some sites in which I'm barely, or not active at all, come to the top of the search results, when other sites in which I am quite active fall far lower down the list. For instance, I've joined elgg.org and photo.net, just to check out the services. I haven't actually done anything on those sites. Yet for some reason a search for Robert Rebholz brings those up before my LinkedIn profile. In fact, there's another Robert Rebholz on LinkedIn (with fewer connections and fewer recommendations) that pops up before my LinkedIn profile -- what's up with that.
And how RobertRebholz.com -- a site I use to store graphics for all my other blogs -- is discovered at all is surprising. I suppose it could be that linking photos to that site from the several blogs I contribute to, has increased it's rank. If so, that's clearly broken from my personal perspective.
A little while ago I mentioned that I felt LibraryThing.com was the best example of social software. It is good, particularly in its use of tags, but upon further consideration, I have to say I don't think it really comes even close to number one.
The best examples of social software on the web, imho, are MMORPGs. WOW is currently king. I have to admit, none of my characters have reached level 70, so some might argue that I've barely begun. I might even agree. I know more about the game from my older son. He's a part of the most advanced guild on his server and keeps me up to date on guild culture, raid strategy and tactics, and even a bit about the battlegrounds and arena play.
His druid rocks.
I've been playing Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) lately, and they've introduced some interesting new twists as well.
My interest in these things began with Asheron's Call. I got sucked up into that thing for almost two-years. (Never really got into the second version.)
I'm convinced there's a lot of innovation in games that is applicable to online communities of all sorts.