Article
Social networking and iTunes
With all my long hours at the library (it is finals week), I’ve begun to notice a strange phenomenon on the campus wireless networks.
See, there are typically a handful of people online with iTunes sharing turned on. This is not only a great way to waste time when I should be studying/working, but also a fascinating look at what people are listening to. All the college favorites are there: Radiohead, Wilco, Jay-Z, a random R. Kelly song, Ben Harper, Dave Matthews, etc. Occasionally, I’ll find someone with a collection that is somehow unique — maybe they only have 15 songs, or they have 30 live Dave Matthews albums, or scarily, they have almost the exact same library as me.
There’s Leechster, which makes for more fun than anyone should have at a library. Until iTunes 4.5 came out, I spent my idle minutes (okay, hours) not just mucking around in people’s shared libraries, but downloading their music too. Thanks to generous fellow students, albums by Johnny Cash, The Who, Lucinda Williams, The Police and Led Zeppelin are now safely tucked away on my hard drive.
But I promised you something “strange,” right? Have a look at this:
At least on the UW-Madison wireless network, iTunes sharing has become something of a cross between a bulletin board, software update notice and file sharing service. From top to bottom:
- DOBratz announces that he or she likes sailors.
- Someone encourages us to download iTunes 4.5, probably so he can listen to our music. I have upgraded, and as a result a handful of the shared libraries are not available. Maybe I’ll change my prefs to say the same thing…
- My favorite one is the announcement that “i have more blink-182 than anyone on iTunes!” Wow. That is really cool, but not as cool as the fact that this person refers to this particular group of iTunes users (only a subnet of the massive campus wireless network) as “iTunes.” (iTunes as a platform, anyone?)
- And of course the followup — “nobody wants that much blink-182” — is priceless. It’s true, no one does.
I am entirely fascinated that a social structure has emerged here. Although it is only on a small scale, people are figuring out that they can communicate and connect through iTunes. I wouldn’t be surprised if people start self-identifying themselves, like “if you want to talk, IM me” or even “i’m in the corner, wearing orange.” It seem to me that if a technology enables people to interact at all, they will humanize that interaction and establish some type of social structure, even if it is totally basic.
By the way, I promise I’ll stop posting about iTunes soon.