Saturday, August 09, 2003

Onion Headline: "LJ User Behind The Curve On Fad"

Didn't we already do Friendster when it was sixdegrees.com? At least this one doesn't make you spam your friends to sign up before it lets you join. I got so much mail from people signing up to sixdegrees that I decided to never join on principle.

So I have my little profile, my first friend who invited me (thanks Sherman!) was confirmed, and immediately I was part of the Electronic Bear Nexus. Then I started hunting around for a way to add new friends. In order to not allow you to spam people, you have to either enter their e-mail address or first and last name. I used a custom spam-catcher e-mail as my starting e-mail, so no one will know that. First name & last name. Geeez, I barely know my last name myself. Its starting structure makes people who do not know Germanic languages capitalize it wrong, and inside the Netherlands the most common variant has an 'n' tacked on the end. The only non-Dutch person who ever asked me about spelling the first part of it correctly was an editor for Popular Science who dealt overwhelmingly with international scientists. My first name I can't write like I want to because this damn thing wont allow '!'. How is anyone supposed to find me?

And the 'add a friend' webpage says: Continue only if you really are friends with Beth.

Well. Now there's an existential crisis to ponder before you hit the button.