Guardian Unlimited Technology - Are you connected?

16 May 2007
This week came the news that "William Wales" had joined the social networking site Facebook. Yesterday there was much argument about whether it was a hoax or not. Would Prince William really post a profile on the net? The answer is: well, why not? After all, this is how most people his age keep tabs on their mates.

With websites such as Facebook and MySpace constantly being talked about in the media, it must be easy to feel like a 20th- century luddite if you aren't already part of the in-crowd. Here lies a great disconnect at the heart of 21st-century socialising: either you're in (and use every social networking website you can) or you're out (and don't use them at all).

This summary gives a different view from the usual of the social networking craze. Most writing on the topic, including stuff I've blogged, is written by technologists for technologists and other juveniles of all ages.

Many of the computing commentators, like technologists everywhere, feel that if it can be done, it must be done. There are some correctives in this article and in one of the side panels.

The other side panel gives some tips on behaviour.

It's a pity that The Guardian chose to put the item in the Technology [sic] area of its Web site, where many people outside computing would miss it. The newspaper itself carried the item in "G2″, which is a general section.