Social networks connect people in so many ways. Sites like MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn have established networks of millions of people constantly meeting, collaborating, and interacting. Finding a friend or colleague has never been easier. Finding a friend of a friend of a friend is a piece of cake, too. The whole complex web for just one person (my Facebook Friend Wheel is shown here) is nothing short of astounding for the uninitiated. For the experienced users of the social web, it's merely a tool. The magic is what happens because of it.

We hope you enjoy this voyage into the Social Web and would love to hear some of your experiences. Please leave a comment and share. Participation is what it's all about.

Setting up a crowd

Facebook, a social networking site popular with college students and teachers, has the ability to create events and immediately invite all your friends. This makes organizing parties, get-togethers, and protests easier than ever. It also permits advertisement for lectures and concerts.

Many social sites have meet-ups. Flickr meets are common and many librarians on ALA's Ning site plan on meeting at the conference next month. It's all just another type of social networking using the new Web 2.0 tools.

We hope you have enjoyed this class and continue to explore the broader social web. It is an unending exploration. Be sure to click "Comment" below and tell us your first name, the social site you chose to start with, and your name on that site (or your page's URL). Then come back over the next couple weeks, add to your page and explore your classmate's pages. Tell us about a few of your experiences here, too.

Enjoy! Participate!