I’ve been writing something about the MySpace phenomenon and decided that I’d better sign up. I was then confronted by this rather depresssing analysis of my condition! Zero friends!

The thing that’s really weird about MySpace is its concept of what constitutes a ‘friend’ — which seems to be anyone whose profile takes your fancy. It’s much closer to the teenager idea of friendship than the adult concept. Certainly, it isn’t anyone you actually know. For me, a friendship denotes a serious relationship that’s been built up over time (otherwise it’s an acquaintanceship). So it’s unsettling to see fiftysomethings on MySpace — who really ought to know better — using ‘friend’ in the shallow, teen sense of the word. There’s some interesting anthropological work to be done here, Holmes.

Update: Upon reading the above, Bill Thompson took pity on me and sent an email offering to be a friend! Which is very sweet of him, but he doesn’t count because I’ve known him for years. According to his profile, he has eight ‘friends’, which shows what a good networker he is. But at least one of them doesn’t count because he’s worked with her on the Cambridge film festival!