Either I was gone or I simply didn’t notice the front page of one of Norway’s biggest tabloids the other day: thankfully Kristine Lowe captured this ridiculous story, simply showing the connections between celebrities who have Facebook profiles:
(Photos by Kristine Lowe; this was probably from May 12?)
Has Facebook been the front page story in any other country? I think that Facebook was so well established as a student-network in other countries that journalists, lawyers and “celebrities” would be as unlikely to use it as to go to a student party or visit the student residences. But because Norway wasn’t in Facebook at all until after they opened it up to non-students and to all countries in September 2006, it’s simply not specifically a student network for us Norwegians. Sure, for those of us connected with universities it’s very obviously tailored for students, but if you sign up in the Norway network, or in no network, you might never realise that. Well. You might wonder why your privacy settings determine whether or not faculty or undergrads can see you, but whatever.
It’s interesting how social networks can develop very differently in different contexts. Was it Orkut that took off in Brazil? Now apparently quarter of a million Norwegians are on Facebook. That’s 5.5% of all Norwegians! That’s an astoundingly rapid adoption.
The media buzz here in Norway, then, is that “celebrities” are using Facebook. There was even a story about a fake Ane Dahl Torp profile that fooled her “real” friends into accepting her invitation to be Facebook friends – until they noticed that she was adding friends on Facebook at the same time as she was on live TV. That’s when they told the real Ane Dahl Torp.
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b¯rge
Yes, Orkut in Brazil and Bebo in the UK I think.
I’ve also been very surprised by the enormous popularity of Facebook in Norway, and how many newspaper articles I’ve seen about it. I believe I’ve read somewhere that it’s gone up 5600% in Norway in a matter of months! I’m not sure if I like it, but at least it’s not MySpace.. 🙂
Martin GL
What surprises me is the breathtaking stupidity of the press in coverage of Facebook. 5.5% of the Norwegian population uses Facebook is, what, 300.000 people? This must by necessity radically change the way ordinary Norwegians are communicating. But all they can see is celebrities and the chance to have Ane Dahl Torp on the front page yet again. It’s like… perhaps a deluge metaphor: covering the flooding of New Orleans by putting only Allan Touissant and Fats Domino on the front page: “CELEBRITIES EVACUATED”. Yes they were, but what about *the people*?
Anne Brekke J¯rgensen
Det som burde interessere deg og dine, er at artikkelen var Âpen for kommentarer og hvordan debatten utviklet seg. Advokat John Christian Elden og hans “vennekrets” ble omtalt og heng ut, og da skrev han innlegg selv der han f.eks gjorde oppmerksom p at glamour-modellene som liksom var hans venner, ogs var hans klienter. Artikkelen ble oppdatert med de nye opplysningene, , journalisten gikk inn i en dialog med Elden og det ble etterhvert en ordentlig interaktiv nett-debatt. Fascinerende, syns n jeg!
Og et forsinket Gratulerer! osv. Nydelig brud & bilde!
Jill Walker Rettberg
Anne! Det var lenge siden sist! Takk for hilsen!
Jeg kan ikke fordra “debattene” i kommentarene p artikler Dagbladet – det er akkurat som om alt det som er verst i Norge kommer fram der. Men dette tilfellet h¯res ut som om det skjedde noe kanskje? Takk for tipset.