Let’s make something clear first.  I do participate in some forms of social networking on the internet.  I have a Facebook account, a myspace account and a twitter account (although I don’t use it, I only set it up as a resource for a previous blog I wrote about social networking sites).  There is something that I don’t trust about the lack of privacy associated with these things.  But it always seems to interest me what new social networking platforms are popping up and what the new trends in this medium are.  Here are a couple of new ones.

Blippy.com

Alana and I where talking about this one Friday morning.  It’s a social networking site for those true hardcore shoppers.  Basically this website tracks your purchases and posts them on the site so that everyone knows what deals you’ve been getting (or what kind of latte you picked up a Starbucks).   So how does it track your purchases?  You have to provide your pin numbers and credit card information so that the site can track you through your bank.  That makes me a little uneasy.  They are asking you to do everything your not suppose to do on the internet.  But the guys behind Twitter think it’s going to be huge.  They are financial backers for the project.

Formspring.me

This one is for those of you who feel like you are not getting enough attention.  You create a profile on this site, then you wait for people to start asking you questions about your life.  Basically, it’s a press conference.  Except instead of sitting in front of a row of microphones you’re sitting at your keyboard.  You put your profile up on the site, what you’re all about, and then people can anonymously start asking you questions.  You become the centre of attention, at least on this little website application.  You can pretend to be a pop star pelted with questions.  You can pretend to be Ron Wilson and be pounded with questions about why your Leafs aren’t do so well.  So if you feel like you aren’t getting enough attention from the world, you can join others just like you.

Of course these are all use at your own risk applications. 

I think we are starting to reach the extreme of social networking applications.  But I also thought that about Twitter.  So I’m sure I’ll be proven wrong.

-Vince

Vince can be reached at

 Vince@thewolf.ca