BIRDS OF A FEATHER
by W:.Tim Bryce, PM, MPS
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
"A Foot Soldier for Freemasonry"
"Our electronic communications may be very slick, but if neither party knows what
the other is talking about, you are going nowhere fast."
- Bryce's Law
As we all know, one of the main uses of the Internet is to provide a means to allow
people to communicate; to share ideas and discuss subjects of common interest. This
has been accomplished through such things as e-mail, instant messaging, web pages,
and VoIP (Internet telephone). But finding the right people to talk to, who share
our interests, is the real problem which is why such things as address books, search
engines, and discussion groups were invented. And it is this latter item that we turn
our attention to as there have been some noteworthy changes introduced over the last
couple of years.
Allowing multiple people to develop a dialogue by subject area has long been a part
of the Internet, starting with the NNTP (Network News Transport Protocol) which provided
a simple text messaging service to anyone who subscribed to a particular subject area.
This was provided in text format to accommodate the operating systems of the day which
were primarily text/command-line based (e.g., DOS, VMS, MPE, etc.). I should also
mention that commercial Bulletin Board Services (BBS) were also quite popular during this
period as they provided comparable services. However, all of this started to change with
the advent of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to operating systems as found in the
MAC, Windows, OS/2, etc., along with the advent of the World Wide Web which made use of
an easy-to-use web browser. Shortly after the GUI introduction, on-line services such
as Compuserve, Prodigy, and AOL, were introduced which provided for NNTP but also provided
a means to share files by subject area. This led to the next generation of discussion groups
as we understand them today and perhaps best represented by Yahoo!
Groups which became a major player in this area. Today, there are
literally thousands of Yahoo! groups available on the Internet to serve a wide variety of
different interests, including Freemasonry (there are hundreds of Masonic groups in Yahoo!).
Although Yahoo! Groups is simple and easy to use, it only allows one message thread,
meaning subjects are thrown together and not subdivided into separate categories. This
led to the advent of more robust discussion groups that allows for more message threads.
For example, in a Masonic discussion group you might have a thread to discuss
"History," another to discuss "Membership," and others for "Literature," "Humor," etc.,
all in one discussion group. Perhaps the best known of this type of discussion groups
is PHPBBServer.com which is also a free service. Some
excellent Masonic examples include:
Lodgeroom International UK
Lodgeroom International USA
Mastermason.com Forums
As popular as Yahoo! Groups and PHPBBServer.com are, newer and more sophisticated
facilities have been introduced which make their predecessors pale by comparison.
The new on-line communities include:
MySpace - was introduced in August 2003
and originally targeted just college and
high school students to allow them to network. Since then, the company was sold to
Fox Interactive Media and is now open to everyone. Consequently, MySpace now boasts
over 200 million users, making it the world's largest social networking tool on the
planet. The facility allows you to build a profile of yourself, which includes both
personal and professional attributes. You can then network either one-on-one with
your friends and colleagues or through forums and groups by subject matter. For example,
there are quite a few Masonic related groups, some with hundreds of members, others
with just a handful. Here are a couple:
Such groups provide the means to exchange messages and photos,
but doesn't allow the exchange other types of files. As the world's largest service,
the file server is a little slow which can be irritating at times. For more information, see:
http://www.myspace.com/
Friendster - was introduced in
March 2002 and remains privately held by its creators.
It was recently passed by MySpace in terms of number of subscribers (Friendster has
over 50 million subscribers). Like MySpace, it offers comparable facilities in terms
of profiles, friends, and groups. Yes, there are also Masonic groups here but they
are not as prevalent as in other forums. Here is one:
For more information on Friendster, see:
http://www.friendster.com/
Facebook - was launched in February 2004 and,
like MySpace and Friendster, initially targeted college and high school students. Since then, it has
been expanded to include other people. Today, there are over 42 million subscribers. This is my
personal favorite as it provides clean and uncluttered screens, simple navigation, and some excellent discussion
groups, including Masonic related. Here are a few:
In addition to messages and photos, you can upload videos and establish links to other
resources on the Internet. As this article goes to press, there is a pending deal for
Microsoft to acquire Facebook (or at least forge a strategic alliance with them). For
more information on Facebook, see:
http://www.facebook.com/
Orkut - this is Google's entry which was
introduced in January 2004 and named after its Google lead developer. This is perhaps the easiest
facility to navigate and use and sports over 67 million users, many of which are from India and
Pakistan. It also has Masonic special interest groups, some featuring thousands of members. Here are
a couple:
For more information on Orkut, see:
http://www.orkut.com/
Yahoo! 360 - is the Yahoo! entry which was
launched in March 2005 and any Yahoo! user over 18 years old can participate. It has an excellent
facility for building a profile, networking with friends, and access to Yahoo! Groups. For more
information, see:
http://360.yahoo.com/
LinkedIn - unlike the others that are more
social-oriented, LinkedIn is a business-oriented networking site which allows you to network with
like-minded professionals, thereby helping each other in your career. It now claims to have more than
14 million registered users, spanning 150 industries and more than 400 economic regions. LinkedIn is nice,
but still requires some work in terms of its messaging capabilities. For more information, see:
http://www.linkedin.com/
PerfectBusiness - this is a new service
to be launched in October 2007. I have had an opportunity to preview it and it looks very promising. The
developers claim its purpose is to provide the tools necessary for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs to
network, plan, finance and launch their business, including an official "Inventions & Patents" category
and club. In my review, I described it as, "LinkedIn on steroids." For more information, see:
http://dev2.perfectbusiness.com/
CONCLUSION
Here are some things to remember about this latest generation of networking tools:
- Most were created to allow young people to network (predominantly college aged).
Only recently have others been allowed in. This means that the subscribers are
younger which, as an aside, represents potential members for the fraternity.
- It is relatively simple to establish a subject group within these facilities,
but I heartily recommend you moderate them carefully as you do not want to mess
with spammers and nut-jobs who like to cause trouble. I also recommend you be careful
in appointing people "friends" - some, most definitely, have other motives.
- Most groups allow the exchange of messages and graphics, but few allow any other
type of file to be uploaded. Some allow the establishment of links, others allow video
uploads, RSS feeds, and blogs, but the only facility that I have come across that allows
for the sharing of other files is Yahoo! Groups. Aside from this, these groups are
graphical in nature and easy to learn and use.
Like their predecessors, this new generation of facilities can help the fraternity
by providing a forum to discuss pertinent issues related to Freemasonry; they can help
to debunk myths and misconceptions about the fraternity, and; promote membership.
To me, it's a no brainer: If we participate, we win.
As an aside, I now belong to most of the groups mentioned above and, as such,
please do not hesitate to look me up and link to me accordingly.
Keep the Faith.
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
NOTE: The opinions expressed in this essay are my own and do not
necessarily represent the views or opinions of any Grand Masonic jurisdiction
or any other Masonic related body. As with all of my Masonic articles herein,
please feel free to reuse them in Masonic publications or re-post them on Masonic
web sites (except Florida). When doing so, please add the following:
Article reprinted with permission of the author and www.FreemasonInformation.com
Please forward me a copy of the publication when it is produced.
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Copyright © 2007 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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