ICQ Universe

scubacuda writes "PC World: ICQ Universe (now owned by AOL) will soon be the first to offer social networking services on an IM platform. One has to wonder what types of legal issues might surface as social networks (particularly those unsecured) become more popular. For example, could being an IM buddy with someone later come back and haunt you?"

Comments

Prediction about "social network software"

[heironymouscoward]

This round is a fad.

It will last about 2-3 years and then disappear as people realize that the software does not support the true exchanges that keep human social networks running.

And in 5-10 years someone will build social networking software that really works. Some clues: men and women build different kinds of social networks. Younger and older people build different kinds of network. Information has value. People trade information. Social networks are information economies.

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[DavidDeLux]

I think it will take less time that the 5-10 years you talk about... software development moves quite quickly - although I would have to say that software innovation moves less slowly ;-)

How difficult would it be to create a network that caters for the different social groups that you talk about. But, are there any differences between the networks that these groups create? Sure, the criteria for determining who is added/excluded from a group will be different, but the underlying requirements are the same. Psychologists feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!!

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[Apreche]

May I refer you to this great article by Doug Rushkoff.

Social Currency

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[hype7]

This round is a fad.

It will last about 2-3 years and then disappear as people realize that the software does not support the true exchanges that keep human social networks running.

I think you're right, but I'm not sure it'll even last that long.

The thing that has made IM so popular is not that it tries to facilitate the true exchange of human social networks, but instead it tries to support it. If organisations like ICQ refocused their efforts on how best to support existing types of human networks instead of trying to replace them, then I think they might be on to something.

I can't remember the details, but MS (of all companies) was really on to something like this a little while back. They also limited group sizes, which is a clever way of ensuring meaningful interaction between acquaintances when they're online.

-- james

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[DavidDeLux]

The thing that has made IM so popular is not that it tries to facilitate the true exchange of human social networks, but instead it tries to support it.

Exactly. IM should be seen as a way to support communication between people who know each other, rather than being a way to start the communication between unknown people. For many years, I avoided things like IM because it just seemed to be full of kiddies with nothing more to say that A/S/L ;-) But recently, because people I work with are all around the world, we use IM to stay in touch with each other - much to the regret of my local telco who have seen my internation phone calls drop to almost nothing :) Of course, there is a big difference between using IM between a closed group of contacts and IM between the unwashed masses (which is more what IRC is all about)

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[whereiswaldo]

My hunch is that the more people know about each other, the less they will care about that information.

A person can only intake so much information. Desensitization will play a factor in people caring less about other's raw data. Maybe it will help us look at each other in a different light: what has this person accomplished with their life and who has this person helped or hurt? Rather than do they drink a 12 pack twice a week or speed sometimes being used to paint a picture of the person. On the other hand, maybe it would inspire a new one-upmanship amongst people who want attention. It could raise the bar on what you need to do to get attention in all that data.

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[abiggerhammer]

I don't really get the cachet of signing on to Yet Another Social Networking Site. The proliferation of SNS's in the last twelve months reminds me of the proliferation of instant messaging services after ICQ came out -- and until clients like Trillian and services like Jabber emerged, it was a huge pain in the ass to manage IM accounts on every service out there. (Perhaps someone will develop an SNS portal so that people can manage their Orkut/Friendster/Tribe.net/LinkedIn/etc. accounts all in one place?)

If the point of a social networking site is merely Yet More Networking, then the point escapes me. That said, it would be interesting to see social-networking sites with really useful added value, perhaps in a niche-specific fashion. For example, the biotech firm I work for is developing a site where users can data-mine article databases like PubMed more deeply than existing tools allow; they'll have the option to save the document classification schemes they build, and to share their classifiers with other users if they want. Social networking (or academic networking, if you will) is a natural extension of this -- if it helps people find collaborators as well as information, we'll consider it a success.

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[janbjurstrom]

Interesting, but could use some references to sources / related material, e.g.:

Andrew Odlyzko's paper Content is Not King which I often point to - it's that good :), and the groundbreaking Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan (written in 1964, in which he coined the phrase "the medium is the message". First 7 chapters also available online.).

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[SurgeonGeneral]

A person can only intake so much information. Desensitization will play a factor in people caring less about other's raw data. Maybe it will help us look at each other in a different light: what has this person accomplished with their life and who has this person helped or hurt?

I am going to have to go ahead and agreed with you on this.

In psychology we call this "habitutation". There are a lot of things that enter our mind, especially due to the senses alone. Think about all the stuff you could actually be hearing and seeing right now. Instead you've turned off your hearing and are focusing on the computer screen. Focus out for a second and you might suddenly pick up the whine of your computer fan or the drone of some far away television.

The social atmosphere changes with the forces that influence it, and filters out parts that are inconvenient or too powerful to notice. World War One brought on a sweeping change in the way the people think about themselves. People started talking about themselves in terms of form instead of content. Concepts of honor and chilvary made way for personality and style. But great changes in mass psychology are not merely stories in history books. Its not hard to notice that the internet makes information the paramount variable - thats why they call it the information economy. Without content, you have nothing. Thats a lesson the dot-bomb bubble taught us. and this focus on information permeates the way we interact with each other: look at Douglas Rushkoff's idea of information as social currency - he says that information is presupposed in our interactions and those that can offer it have power (not in those words). Information is power. Information dominates our thinking, our interactions, our business, our media, our newspapers, our politics. Its a good thing, because the more we come to realize how important it is, the more we will value it, and the more we will reject those that make false promises and empty threats.

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sure I understand your point. Why would IRC be any better at all than ICQ for "IM between the unwashed masses"? And what about people who aren't Linux geeks (or does 'unwashed mass' have another meaning. sorry, my first language is german, not english).?

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[Plac3bo]

It is the differences in styles of the communications that the poster is referring to. With IM, you add people you know to your contact list, but with IRC, you join a disscussion group based on topic usually. It has absolutely nothing to do with linux, the OS is independant.

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[Kris_J]

That said, it would be interesting to see social-networking sites with really useful added value, perhaps in a niche-specific fashion.

You mean like listservs, newsgroups and web forums?

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[abiggerhammer]

You mean like listservs, newsgroups and web forums?

Not at all. I don't see anything Orkut's communities do that a decent webforum doesn't already do better, presuming that the webforum allows people to link their usernames to their own webpages, as lots do.

Actually, /. is a fine example of what I mean by "really useful added value". Its primary purpose is to disseminate news that geeks will find interesting, but it also has some networking features: you can define other users as friends, foes, &c., you can get more information about people via their user pages, you can send messages internally, you can see who "friends of friends" are, and so on. LiveJournal is a pretty good example too -- primary purpose is providing a blogging tool; the ability to define profiles, interests and friends allows for networking.

Needlessly long reply to what I'm sure was sarcasm, but eh.

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[Kris_J]

Needlessly long reply to what I'm sure was sarcasm, but eh.

To be fair, I haven't actually used a social network service (never invited *sniff*), so I don't really know what they do and don't offer. However, I'd be suprised if they provided anything as useful as Slashdot or any of the many phpBB forums I frequent.

Re:Prediction about "social network software"

[abiggerhammer]

However, I'd be suprised if they provided anything as useful as Slashdot

I have yet to see any that do.

First Microsoft, now AOL?

[Motherfucking Shit]

I thought this was a dupe until I went back and looked; the previous story was about Microsoft getting into this game. I wonder which one of them will be first to partner with Acxiom?

The Internet becomes more like the real world...

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess all these "social networks" make the internet more and more like the real world. Have to be careful of who you talk to, etc.

Except of course in the real work scamming someone is a lot more work - on the internet they can't see you, so you could be scamming lots of people at once. The "social networks" might even build up a higher layer of false trust.

Damn you internet!

Simply chatting with someone can be a problem.

[JanusFury]

A few years back, during the eFront Fiasco, someone got a hold of ICQ Chat Logs off of the machine of Sam Jain, the CEO of eFront. I was an administrator of one of the sites that got hit hard by the scandal, and if my memory serves the chat logs (which included a lot of very embarassing things being said by Sam and other higher-ups at eFront) were one of the big things that resulted in eFront's eventual destruction.

I can only imagine how much worse it will get when ICQ expands its services.

Re:Simply chatting with someone can be a problem.

[kryptkpr]

I was also an admin of one of the sites bought up by eFront during the boom, and then left to die when the cash dried up.

I think the logs just made us all angry; the inability to adjust with changing markets when the .com bubble burst is what really killed eFront. What gets me is that they were dicks about it. They never came to me and asked to renegotiate the contract because funds were running slim, or anything like that.. they just stopped paying and (Sam) dissapeared from ICQ.

So why didn't I just take my site offline when they stopped sending cheques? They were paying for it's hosting, and that machine had one hell of an uplink ;) Anyone who used to frequent Dalnet's tv channels and remembers kRYPTdCC01, raise your hands.

ICQ Universe

[AndroidCat]

With a name like that, I'd expect to logon by typing "By the Power of Greyskull!". (Skellitor might explain the haunting part.) Or start some quest to boldly go where no one has gone before!

Universe does not exactly suit the cozy pub atmosphere I'd be looking for.

I use irc, that's all I need.

[intertwingled]

I use IRC. Works fine. What's all of this IM stuff? Sounds lame.

Re:I use irc, that's all I need.

[Anonymous Coward]

I use a telephone. Works fine. What's all of this IRC stuff? Sounds lame.

Re:I use irc, that's all I need.

[noisehole]

blah blah, i'm an ircaddict too, so have a look at bitlbee.

and to cheer you up, just click on the aol link (quicktime movie) in the article, some funny stuff in there...

Re:I use irc, that's all I need.

[YetAnotherLogin]

Telephone?? Bah, you young whippersnappers. Smoke signals all the way!!

Re:I use irc, that's all I need.

[Trejkaz]

IRC is a type of IM anyway, it just specialises in many-to-many instead of one-to-one. The only difference is the IRC protocol is old.

what a nonsense...

[selderrr]

could being an IM buddy with someone later come back and haunt you?

Could my 1 year old son being a friend with someone in day care come ack later and haunt him ?

Puhlease ! What a FUD. Are you trying to even further associalize those who are socioophobes but found AIM a useful tool to make friends ? Stop being so afraid of life !

Re:what a nonsense...

[Anonymous Coward]

well I guess it could. Just say this 'buddy' turns out to be a criminal. What's the bet the cops will look into who he deals with? Depending on the crime it might not mean a thing, or you might have your door knocked down and hauled off to Cuba.

Regards,
g@z.

Re:what a nonsense...

[selderrr]

that's ridiculous. Chances are far bigger that he'd meet someone on AIM who will later in his life save his life or donate a million bucks or teach him how to basket or marry him or drive him to the station every wednesday or ... whaveter...

The point is that for one chance in a million (yea yea, throw me a terry pratchet), you're giving up a thousand possible beneficies.

Go live with the monks in tibet, dude. And stab your eyes out, cut your ears off and eat your tongue for god forbid you might one day in tibet stand in a public loo pissing besides the next osama, for which the feds will spend a billion bucks to haunt you and chain your bollocks to guantanamo beach rocks.

Re:what a nonsense...

[selderrr]

you're welcome. Nice troll by the way

Re:what a nonsense...

[Anonymous Coward]

And what if you happened to be Muslim, but wind up associating with people who (unbeknownst to you), happen to have terrorist ties?

Now suppose those people you have associated do something bad. You could wind up being an 'investigative lead' if the authorities thought you had anything to do with them, and thus you might wind up in Guantanamo until such time as they realize that you know nothing...

Re:what a nonsense...

[Anonymous Coward]

that's not a problem of IM, that's a problem of your country. Guilty until proven otherwise.

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[selderrr]

I am totally baffled... More and more, I have the impression that a majority of slashdotters is really afraid of any form of bidirectional and/or replyable (you call it tracable) communication. For heavens sake : where's the principle of "innocent till proven otherwise" ?

I notice this attitude going on at my kids school too : don't talk to anyone, don't look at anyone, don't think about anyone. Curl up inside your safe self-shell and murmur away. I once had hope that the internet, and especially AIM were a way out of this downward spiral, but the FUDders and paranoiacs are well on their way to ruin that utopia.

Makes life easier & harder for law enforcement

[G4from128k]

Although online social network technology makes it easier for law enfrocement to track people and find out who they are connected too, it also makes life harder for the law. These types of networks encourage large numbers of connections. While the subjects of an investigation might only call a dozen different people by phone, they might have hundreds of contacts in an online environment. Tracking down all these contacts, most of whom are innocuous, becomes a labor-intensive needle-in-a-haystack problem.

The more contacts people have, the harder it is to determine which contacts are the salient ones from the standpoint of investigation.

social networking

[DavidDeLux]

This looks like somebody else is jumping on the social bandwagon... how many services will be popping up to offer such facilities in 2004?

Actually, this reminds me of LinkedIn.com, but I suspect the signal-to-noise ratio will be a bit different ;-)

In fact, I don't see anything wrong with using a computerized system to help with social netwoking... but as in real life, you gotta be careful out there, although its too early to say whether it will be better or worse than getting scammed/screwed/whatever through a service like this or in real life.

Invite only. So now we are not invited to computer

[SmallFurryCreature]

Invite only. So now we geeks are not invited to computer parties as well? Dang.

strange quote from the site

[Anonymous Coward]

You browse the universe by clicking on friends, so everyone you meet will in fact be related to you somehow.

So this will be like living in a remote village? This conjures up so many images of inbred hicks, I don't know if I would want to be part of that. What someone asks "wanna cyber?" on this thing? On the other hand, I'd rather not think about it.

A lot of things will come back to haunt us

[sisukapalli1]

Usenet posts, for example. Slashdot posts too. However, with so many people being online, unless one plans to run for a major office, things won't be scrutinized much (or, atleast one can hope for that).

I wonder how a race for a public office in 2020 would look like. A multimedia ad sponsored by next generation media cronies will say, "Candidate xyz posted *THIS unpatriotic message* on slashdot in 2003, so don't vote for him" A lot depends on how the people evolve by then -- may be they will wisen up and can think for themselves, or may be they no longer cease to be people and just become sheeple.

Definitely, interesting times ahead.

S

Re:A lot of things will come back to haunt us

[Councilor Hart]

Hey guys, from 2020, who are investigating my posts.
Please bear in mind that viewpoints can and do change.
If everyone always stick to their opinions - right or wrong - then what is the point of debate? Changing your mind is allowed. Hopefully most - me included - do it because the arguments from the other side were better or because the first opinion was based on a flaw.
My posts represents my viewpoint at the moment of posting. It can be different from my ideas in the past, it can be different from those in the future. My idea can change the moment I read someone's reply a few minutes later. It can change years later or not at all.
To make progress, you have to allow that someone changes his mind.
We are not born with ideas preprogrammed, we make them as we go through live. And we change them in those years.
To point out what someone said 20 years ago is meaningless. Look at what is being said today.
You can look at skills or style or ... with wich those ideas were presented at the time, but the ideas themselves could have changed.
Is the person trustworthy and qualified? That is one of the questions you should be asking yourself.

See you in parliament in 2020. Give or take a few years.
english != native language

Re:A lot of things will come back to haunt us

[craXORjack]

You make a very good point. However if George Bush Jr can snort cocaine yet be elected President 25 years later when his party advocates mandatory prison for drug users, then I have to think there are other factors much more important to running for office. Such as: does your daddy control the CIA, are you rich, are you easily manipulated by daddy's business associates, do you have no respect for life, etc.

Re:A lot of things will come back to haunt us

[ScrewMaster]

Now I suppose that might be called a "Disclaimer of Opinion." Kind of like the "Disclaimer of Warranty" I see printed on my tube of toothpaste.

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[caluml]

On a similar note - I've often wondered why Slashdot doesn't make use of its "social network" of Friends, and Freaks to determine moderation levels. For example, if one person has lots of fans, surely what they say will be fairly good. Obviously, trolls could all register, and add their other troll accounts to their Friends list, but it would be very easy to get rid of them all, no?

Comment 1004

How is this different?

[Garwulf]

Okay, I've read the article.

So, could somebody please explain something to me: how is this different from what ICQ and the other IMs already offer? It almost feels to me like somebody putting a nice new coat of paint on something that's already there, and then bragging about it.

Re:How is this different?

[Paco103]

I agree, I just don't get the fuss. Social Networking? Forums? Buddy Lists? We can say "hi" in REAL TIME :O That's just . . . AMAZING!

The only difference I really see is that it's now by invite only. So instead of just signing up for ICQ and meeting people, you have to meet people and THEN sign up. WTF is up with that? I agree with that for adding someone to your buddy list, but just to get a stupid account?!?!

Re:How is this different?

[Trejkaz]

The only difference is currently you can't see your friend's friends list. For ICQ to implement a social networking app, they would need to permit this, but you're right, it's really just showing the same information.

Re:How is this different?

[ScrewMaster]

Why, isn't that obvious? It's different in the same way that Windows 98 is different from Windows 95, or Windows XP is different from Windows 2000. And at that it it will probably have much the same effect: to dramatically increase usage and acceptance without providing additional substance.

Re:Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

first of all it lacks all the nervousness and inhibitions that come with normal interaction

Nervousness and inhibitions are not parts of 'normal' interaction. It is a symptom of a mind disorder. Drugs are available to help you with this problem. Please see your doctor.

27 Year Old Russian Girl Wants To Meet You

[gadlaw]

Humm, I remember when ICQ was a wonder and people from around the world would drop by for a visit and a chat. Now that has changed and the only people who ever want to message me anymore are those 27 year old russian girls with websites and they want me to look at their pictures. Eh? I know where to get good p0rn and it isn't from the web or from fake 27 year old girls. I doubt very seriously that any sort of social networking system in the AOL crapware that ICQ has become can ever be good. -Unless of course there are plenty of pretty 27 year old russian girls who want to really meet me that is. So sayeth the gadlaw.

Re:27 Year Old Russian Girl Wants To Meet You

[Erdinger]

Where do you get good pr0n if not on the web???

Re:27 Year Old Russian Girl Wants To Meet You

[Anonymous Coward]

Where do you get good pr0n if not on the web???

eDonkey. Web != Internet. There is very little good porn to be had on the web for free. Elsewhere, it is almost effortless.

Re:Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Thus typed by an anonymous coward. I'd better switch my irony meter to a higher scale.

Re:Invite only. So now we are not invited to compu

[AndroidCat]

That's why geeks start social networking computer companies.

Not to Worry...

[Quantum-Sci]

could being an IM buddy with someone later come back and haunt you?

In the US Constitution is a provision called "freedom of association". You can be friends with whom you want. (Until that too, is undermined by The Party, at least)

If your friend is a drug dealer, just don't talk about or be involved with drugs with him.

Re:Not to Worry...

[Captain_Frisk]

If your friend is a drug dealer, just don't talk about or be involved with drugs with him.

For most people, having a drug dealer friend is no big deal, especially if you're not involved in his / her business.

However, do you want that person running for public office? Even if you're comfortable with it, its unlikely that all of your country would be be so enlightened.

Chatting can indeed be dangerous!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to work on AOL as a Guide. One time there was a Guide they suspected was into kiddie porn. So, Not only did they (Law Enforcement) read all of his email for awhile, they also read email of all the people he talked to. Basically they were on a Fishing Expedition. They thought this guy was doing kiddie porn so of course they figured everyone else he talked to must be doing kiddie porn too!

I still remember, the day I opened my mail box (real one) and there was an envelope, from the Virgina Dept of Justice, telling me, hey guess what, we've been spying on your email for a few months while we investigated someone else. Hope you don't mind!!

And this was 6 or 8 years ago! God knows what they can do now, with carnivore and more powerful computers.

Re:Chatting can indeed be dangerous!!!

[cyborch]

All the more reason to start using jabber or other similar secure IM protocols. ALso, you might consider starting to encrypt your e-mail. Not that you have anything to hide, but simply because you dislike people (your government in this case) snooping about inside your personal stuff.

Re:Chatting can indeed be dangerous!!!

[Motherfucking Shit]

Very interesting! I was a remote for approximately 5 years, spanning Mac Help, YouthTech, Digital City, AOL Promotions, CLC, KARES, and various other interests. I never got a "DOJ Letter," as I wasn't much for public chat or hanging with Guides, but I did get one of these.

I was also blocking mail from specific users long before Mail Controls were available, my experiments with screen name refresh tokens led to the eventual "Update Screen Name List" link at keyword: NAMES (a poor TechLive friend got in trouble for distributing my form); keyword: NOTIFYAOL exists at my suggestion, as opposed to just being a button in chat rooms (thanks Chris!); and - as you say - God knows what else. Those were the days, no?

If you don't mind my asking, what was your Guide uniform, or perhaps your civvies? I might've known ye...

Re:Chatting can indeed be dangerous!!!

[saturng]

The fact that all of you are confusing AIM and ICQ is exactly where your paranoid trouble lies - those are different netwroks (still, how stupid) and as long as they are, they cater different people - the close minded, the I-need-my-fix-of-the-6-oclock-news, the Id-rather-live-in-fear-than-talk-to-someone-outsid e-of-north-america crowd of AIM, and those who actually still want to think of the world as a big place full of surprises, a world wide web indeed of ICQ users. And yes, the big bad world has porn (which can be easily blocked), and not so nice people (which can be ignored), and yeah, if you're stupid enough to talk about your boss on your work computer (or porn or anything else workplaces dont appreciate) then you have it coming. and u know what? Not chatting can be dangerous too. try the universe, you may just like it

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[Anonymous Coward]

There are nothing wrong with these social networks except for the fact they aren't secure. Identity theft is also not taken seriously by any providers of these social networks. I have many friends who have been tricked into giving away their passwords and then call me up asking how they can fix it. Sadly, there is really no way for them to do, I took it upon myself to try and help, in two specific cases I dealt with the aol abuse team and the yahoo abuse team. Both were inadequate in protecting the identity of this individual so instead of her account being locked out, someone is using it to impersonate her and she can't prove it's herself because she simply forgot the password she used to open the account in 1995. So her identity has been stolen and damage done. She will never use these services again and it's not because they don't have anything to offer but she dosn't see them as being too protective of her as a customer or user of their services in any respect. This attitude, the scams, scheming going on to steal peoples identities are what will kill these social networks dead in their tracks.

This will spawn a new social network based on trust, it wont be created by yahoo, aol or icq.. but by one of the many OSS developers out there. It's not about hiding in a ball, it's about not having someone rob you and in the unfortunate event that you do get robbed you can call up and have your shit cancelled immediately.

flickr!

[Anonymous Coward]

flickr!

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[lxs]

Curl up inside your safe self-shell and murmur away.

Isn't that precisely the attitude that is fostered by these invite-only networks? The great thing about the internet today is that you can talk to people whether you belong to their clique or not.

The fact that posts like these are public record does mean that you do have to watch your words, but I don't think that is a problem as long as your posts are reasoned out and you're prepared to defend your position, or admit that you were wrong. If someone really wants to dig up dirt they will always find something, so you might as well speak freely.

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[selderrr]

I totally agree, but such tragedies are no argument to condemn AIM and other messenger services as a complete and utter danger. Just like you, I hope someone comes up with a decent security for AIM (just like I hope someone comes up with secure versions of everything else)

Just don't throw away the baby with the bathwater.

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[selderrr]

If someone really wants to dig up dirt they will always find something, so you might as well speak freely.

totally. In these, an AIM social network is no different from your local darts club. The point I'm trying to make is that I'm stunned by the FUDders that want to make us believe that AIM is a jungle with a IDthief behind every tree. I can't and won't let them say such nonsense. AIM is a free speech network wheer you can say dumb things that can blow up in your face. Just like real life. But that's no excuse to label it as dangerous.

I happen to think this is a good thing

[jobugeek]

If you felt strongly enough to post your opinion to the world then I see no reason why it shouldn't be brought up later. Posting to /. or usenet is no different then stepping up to microphone in a crowded room. People will hear you.

Of course we all have said things we regret, too many people spout off when they shouldn't. But your example of political races would prove interesting to me. If candidate X posted feelings one way on an issue 5 years ago and is now campaigning the other way, I'd certainly like to know why.

Oh, the irony

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't and won't let them say such nonsense. AIM is a free speech network

Absolutely! Anyone who is against free speech should be prevented from voicing their opinions!

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[filekutter]

I finally joined one of the 'networks' because of a recommendation from a friend, and was a bit non-plussed by the amount of personal information I was immediately asked to provide (by choice fortunately). A wonderful database for people to phish to say the least, and I saw absolutely NO warnings about possible abuses by unknown parties. I also must admit that the program and the idea of 'networking' with a bunch of people I don't know doesn't really appeal to me, and it will probably become a dusty link.

Irony Meter

[handy_vandal]

Thus typed by an anonymous coward. I'd better switch my irony meter to a higher scale.

Dude, this is SlashDot -- you're gonna max out your irony meter ....

-kgj

ICQ is out of interest to me

[Anonymous Coward]

They banned millions because of couple dozens of spammers. Turkish cable ISP and many, many others except American and European ones..

Re:ICQ is out of interest to me

[Trejkaz]

That may be one contributing factor to Jabber users currently outnumbering ICQ users.

Do you know what I use to socially network?

[holizz]

I meet new people via friends. You know, I get added into a group conversation (IM or IRL) and I say hi and they say hi.

I've never used social networking websites.

Re:Makes life easier & harder for law enforcem

[ax_42]

Yeah, but the data is all in a format that can be easily mined for information (which could be simple, like a grep for key words or sophisticated, like a heuristic natural language parser).

Ask Microsoft -- I'm sure they handed over hundreds of thousands of email messages to the DoJ. Sounds daunting, but all they had to do was to search for the term "Netscape".

Automating the searches also has another scary consequence: a computer program will do the scanning and the results will not be carefully rechecked by law enforcement because "the program is always right". The program being wrong could, however, lead to YOU incorrectly being a suspect in a legal process.

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[cyborch]

Of course you yourself could just change your settings so all your friends receive a +1 bonus when you look at them. That way YOU are more likely to see your friends. That was not quite what you were looking for tho. It would be possible to have a new kind of karma modifier, where anyone with more than (say) 20 fans who each have excellent karma would receive an extra +1 modifier, and thus could start at +3. That would not create any kind of social network, but rather foster /. celebrities, which is not a bad thing in itself. The nice thing about this is that it would encourage people not only to karma-whore, but to actually try and be really insightful/interesting/funny in order to gather a fan base.

Re:Invite only. So now we are not invited to compu

[rmarll]

Don't fret, there are people sitting around doing nothing other than inviting people.

Odd that your "Friends" list doesn't seed your network automagically. I would have thought this a no-brainer.

Interface to ICQ Universe via Mozilla broken

[adrianhensler]

The 'lobby' page of ICQ Universe doesn't seem to load properly; at least with the build of Mozilla I am using. Loads fine in IE. They have already limited their Universe; some sort of crazy club. Accident or on purpose? Conspiracy, anyone?

Re:Interface to ICQ Universe via Mozilla broken

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean, of course they are trying to keep the system nerd free. Everybody knows nerds are fat and smelly (and use mozilla).

thanks for reading.
p.s. Written on firebird.

Re:Interface to ICQ Universe via Mozilla broken

[exspecto]

Works fine for me in Firefox 0.8 (that's the latest release).

Re:Interface to ICQ Universe via Mozilla broken

[Bambi Dee]

Not for me. The post-login areas ("Lobby") are a layout mess.

I married my im buddy

[Anonymous Coward]

I married my im buddy and she is now Mrs Coward ...so there you go.

Also few others did it as well.

This bubble will burst

[heff]

The social networking craze is eerily reminisent of the dotcom heyday - sure the technology is cool but does it really make all that much of a difference in the world or to people? Will people pay for it? I doubt it.

I have no idea why all the VC's are dumping money into these things.. it's only a matter of time before this little "bubble" bursts.

This will definately haunt you...

[keller]

if you run for anything in the future:

may be they will wisen up and can think for themselves, or may be they no longer cease to be people and just become sheeple

sheeple as in she-people as in women? No way you're gonna get away with that, at least with half of the population. This is so discriminating!!!

;-)

FUD?

[Mikey-San]

For example, could being an IM buddy with someone later come back and haunt you?

I think you should give these people a call.

Re:FUD?

[tehcyder]

You do know that the Government track visitors to that site?

McLame

[Lotharjade]

Do they have to find a way to make everything crappy?

Would be interesting thought to see how a lawyer would bring up IM stuff in court. "Ahem, well you see while the defendant was BS'in with his buddy he said some rather disturbing things, like how Jlo is mega hot, and how ACDC is the best band in the world. DAMMING I SAY!!!"

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[caluml]

Yeah, I already give a bonus to my friends. But for example, direct friends of mine could score 10, friends of friends could score 6, friends of friends of friends 4, etc, and likewise for foes. Then, simply set the the score that they need to be seen as 9 for example.

Re: Noooo

[Chris Lampson]

Why does the crappiest internet provider have to take over the world??? ICQ doesn't need popups and ads galore! What's next? "AOL buys Cerulean Studios"

Presumed Guilt

[nurb432]

If you honestly think that the legal standard ' innocent until proven guilty' still stands, then you are living in a dream land.

Today, via things such as the patriot act, and rampant civil suits.. it has pretty much negated the entire concept..

Even the mass media can persecute people at will with no evidence. Ruin a persons life/career due to pure hearsay..

So yes, being prudent is appropriate..

non-issue

[U.I.D 754625]

For example, could being an IM buddy with someone later come back and haunt you?

In the same way talking to the person in the checkout line in front of you could come back to haunt you. Slashdot of all places tries to explain that things done on the internet are NOT NEW just because they are on the internet, and then we have a story driving the other point of view. You always have to be careful with other people, but in order to live, you can't hole up in the basement thinking mommy told me not to talk to strangers.

Degrees of Separation

[Atryn]

For example, could being an IM buddy with someone later come back and haunt you?

Well, we all know that President Bush is only 2 degrees of separation away from Osama Bin Laden (maybe 1?) and that didn't seem to hurt him any. :)

From 2020

[Anonymous Coward]

Back in March 2004 this guy wrote "life" as "live"... what a moron!

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[dave1212]

What has been shown and proven at work, at home and at school is that if we don't talk to anyone, don't look at anyone, don't think about anyone but ourselves then we won't get hurt, and things will progress normally. Uneventful, yes, but in this day and age of living in fear, 'no news' really is good news.

Re:Invite only. So now we are not invited to compu

[Arrgh]

I'll invite you if you want. You just have to figure out how to find me first, in their godawful UI. :)

That is why PGP/GPG is your friend!

[MikeCapone]

PGP

gnuPG

Livejournal is my social network

[samael]

I have friends all over the place who I keep up with via LJ. Sure, I also use email and MSN/ICQ/AIM to chat. But when I want to find out what they've been up to, I check my friends list.

LJ supports RSS, FOAF and is intrinsically interconnected. To my mind it's much more of a social network than anything else I've used.

Tell this Mr. Arar ...

[TekGoNos]

... who was send to Syria to be tortured
because a suspected terrorist signed
his rental lease as a witness six
years earlier.

"freedom of association" is nice,
but in this terrorist-witch hunt
society, your rights dont count
for much.

Therefor you should be carefull
what to write
(online)
or whom do you chat with.

Even if not
tortured, you might find yourself
constrained for interrogation for an
unlimited time

as a suspected terrorist.

That being said, you shouldnt become paranoid either. The governement will probably monitor you for a while before they decide to take any action and as long as you dont write things like "I swear death to all infidels" you probably wont be bothered.

But "freedom of association" (or any civil right for that matter) is a myth.
Defending our civil rights from terrorists has become more important than respecting these civil rights.

Re:The Internet becomes more like the real world..

[Lord_Dweomer]

"The point I'm trying to make is that I'm stunned by the FUDders that want to make us believe that AIM is a jungle with a IDthief behind every tree."

Well, think of it this way. Most of us Slashdotters know this. We would laugh if someone warned us seriously of this. However, many people would take it seriously if they weren't very computer savvy. Personally, I'd rather have all of the teenyboppers on AIM be terrified of identity theft and learn to use caution when giving away their information. Even if it means they think its more dangerous than it really is. The people who know enough to not believe that are usually good enough to handle themselves online.

But we also know

[Anonymous Coward]

that "degrees of seperation" is bullshit.

It's just a matter of how generalized you allow a "seperation" to be.

Bush declared that we will capture Osama -> one degree.

What bull.

Re:Makes life easier & harder for law enforcem

[ScrewMaster]

The more contacts people have, the harder it is to determine which contacts are the salient ones from the standpoint of investigation.

Good.

I have to disagree.

[StarKruzr]

I've made quite a few friends via IRC that I haven't even met IRL, and have gone on to continue communication with them on AIM. Is there something "wrong" with these social relationships?

Re:I have to disagree.

[BLAMM!]

You're supporting the parent's argument. You say you've made friends over IRC, which the parent says is what IRC is all about, and then maintained those friendships over IM.

IM didn't help you create new friends, it helped you stay in touch with the ones you made through other channels. This is the parent's main point.