A Social Revolution

In this day and age, many of you will have an online presence. This may be through Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, Blogger, Tumblr, MySpace, Bebo, the list goes on. But what do these sites actually offer you as a user? The scope of this question is huge. I would like to touch upon this and go through a few things of note in terms of the benefits that they provide. Obviously, when uploading private information onto the internet, there are a number of issues regarding privacy, of which I leave for now.

All of these have one main attraction, being that they are social in nature, they allow you to connect with others in various ways. They can enhance relationships and also create new ones, even with the possibility of having a connection online without having a connection in the real world. These kind of relationships may be built on mutual interests such as fan sites, finding friends through your current friends or even by advertising yourself online through the use of a dating site or something similar. These all offer very different kind of interactions, but there are also a number of similarities.

One of the advantages I would like to pick up on is the use of following what your friends are interested in. So, for example, you see that a friend likes a certain film or song and therefore you decide to check it out for yourself. With the latest release of Spotify, they have introduced the chance for users to connect with their Facebook account. This means that you can post your public profile onto Facebook and anyone else with Spotify can see what you have been listening to by looking at the playlists that you have published. This is a great feature for Spotify and something that I think firmly puts it ahead of iTunes since you now have a social aspect to your music. No longer is it the case of just having a library of songs, every song within your library becomes a recommendation for a friend. Of course, you may have songs that you like more than others and therefore the option to give each song a star means that others can see what you would rate highly. Another feature that I think has great promise is the option to have collaborative playlists, meaning that more than one person can edit a playlist. All of this makes sharing music and finding new artists/songs a lot simpler and quicker than say going round to a mates house and talking through your whole collection. That is not to say it is better in any way, it is a different experience, one which takes away the personal aspect of meeting in person, but allowing for a streamlined experience that doesn't interfere with your normal habits. You just listen to the music and obtain additional information that can help improve your listening.

Spotify can be obtained from here... Get Spotify

If you would like to see what I've been listening to, then follow this link... mozzy16's Profile