Stage 1 - The Joining
A meatspace friend tells you about a new service that all the cool kids are using. You join.
Stage 2 - The Expansion
You start playing around with the tool and decide you need to add more “friends” so you import your email list and send out invitations.
Stage 3 - The Reality
Your initial broadcast of invitation requests generated a few really nasty responses, but they weren’t your friends, actually. Anyway, you are starting to follow some cool people and exchange messages. You meet some people face to face at a local Starbucks. Life is good - you’re getting to know some new people!
Stage 4 - The ROI Debate
You start getting a ton of invitations to connect from people you don’t know, along with a slew of penis enlargement ads and get-rich-quick schemes. Messages start going around about how “It’s not like the old days when everyone knew each other,” and, “The A-listers are just using the group for spamming.” You begin questioning time online and start pruning your list.
Stage 5 - The Migration
A virtual friend tells you about a new service that all the cool kids are using. You join.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Dennis D. McDonald
