Thing 20. Libraries and Social Networks

I opened this post with a hot cup of coffee and this photo of a child looking at the face of another child... Now it is 9:30 and I am nearly done with the assignment and it is time to blog my experience and conclusions...
Since I had set up a Facebook membership a couple of weeks ago in preparation for 23 Things I thought this thing would be a fast one. However, the first stop was the enormous Teens and Social Media Report from the PEW/Internet & American Life Project. I read through most of the 44 pages and printed out the Summary of Findings (pages 1-6) for my file. (Yes, I have a file for 23 Things.) The insights and statistics for the appeal of social networks is a revisiting of human development. The Maslow Hierarchy of Needs is a blueprint for the how and why of this appeal. The social need for belonging/love/affection/acceptance=groups,
the need for esteem/confidence/achievement/respect=offering and receiving friendship, the need for self-actualization/making and presenting the self/spontaneity/creativity=posting, sharing photos, exposure. This is life -- today made visible in social networks -- moments of understanding and happpiness alone and yet part of the world. These social networks, for all their quirks, are a sign of the culture's positive mental health.

Thing 12.1 Do You Digg?

So it seems like a internet version -- user driven -- of USA Today? Social media - the popular stuff -- common to many of us -- the front page (sorted by sections - if you want) of papers everywhere. Sort of the way the strip mall is common to almost all American towns? Am I getting a better understanding of it? Following are their definitions of what they do.

Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users

Reddit: User-generated news links. Votes promote stories to the front page.

Updated continuously by citizens like you, Newsvine is an instant reflection of what the world is talking about at any given moment.

Mixx is your link to the web content that really matters. You find it; we'll Mixx it.

Use YourMixx to tailor the content categories, tags, specific users and groups, and we'll deliver the top-rated content as chosen by you and people who share your passions. So go ahead and whip up your own version of the web. Just tell us how you like it Mixxed and we'll deliver the best the web has to offer.