Here’s my response to Dean Bubley’s nice blog about how people are using FB for all contacts, not just friends. He states, “I’m trying to come up with a reasoned criterion for someone being ‘Facebookable’.”
http://disruptivewireless.blogspot.com/2007/10/social-networks-and-business-contacts.html
Dean,
I’m the GM of Geni China. We at Geni obviously believe that there should be differentiation among the circles of people you care about in your life: friends (FB), co-workers (LinkedIn), and a circle you didn’t mention - family (Geni).
However, in China, most of the social networkers here do not differentiate. They invite everybody they meet to their SNS of choice, and they accept invitations from everyone without distinguishing which circle.
I wish, like the Olympic “manners” campaigns where the Chinese government is trying to teach 1.2B people that spitting on the street isn’t cool, Chinese bloggers could reiterate what you’ve said, and explain the value and purpose of differentiation. Not everyone can be your BFF.