Social networks and the zombie apocalypse

Today I read a short story called Feature Development for Social Networking, by Ben Rosenbaum, which tells two parallel stories of the use and development of social networking features during the early stages of a zombie apocalypse. It was fascinating, as it was a very accurate portrayal of how these things actually go down in software feature development - the arguments about how a feature will be implemented (who can use the feature; precedents to justify certain aspects of the feature; what the feature can be integrated with; arguments about the approval process), and the rush to get the feature in at the right time are all very reminiscent of my experiences as a software developer.

The story also very elegantly shows the way a social networking site straddles the virtual and physical. Social network sites don't exist in a separate "cyberspace" - they are attached to many points in the real world, and effectively act as information shortcuts between those points. Most of those points in the real world are people, but more and more social networking sites link to places and objects, as we like* venues and organizations, and check in to locations. The social networking site is a bridge between different parts of the real world, more so than many other online experiences. The story reflects this: the feature being developed is done so in response to a real-world event - the zombie apocalypse - and the people reacting to the zombie apocalypse through the social networking tools are using it to communicate these real-world events and interactions they've had.

As a last note, when I was trying to dig up the story (I read it earlier today) to link to on this blog, I found Zombie Friends, and zombie themed social network, and Zombie Passions, a zombie themed dating site. O brave new world, that has such people in't!

* I've italicized these worlds to indicate I'm referring to the social networking meaning of them; we're past the point where wrapping quotes around them makes sense, as they're no longer a novelty; in some places, the social networking version is the primary meaning of these terms.