I just quit Friendster over the whole “Blogger-gate” scandal. You can read all about it here, and while I’m sure there are two sides to this story, I don’t particularly care about hearing CEO Scott Sassa’s side, because well… I guess because I don’t really believe that he’d have anything intelligent to say on the matter, coming as he does from a background in broadcast and cable television. Of course, this is not to say that he’s unintelligent, or that he isn’t good at what he does, because clearly this is not the case; rather, it’s simply his position as the leader of a social networking company that speaks volumes about the willful ignorance and arrogance demonstrated by those who would seek to transform the internet from a tool for the free exchange of ideas into “one component of an integrated marketing effort.” Like the RIAA’s attempts to influence the development of digital media technology, Sassa’s desire to control all aspects of Friendster’s media image is born out of an obsolete business model that is simply incompatible with the way the internet works. While I understand and appreciate the need for confidentiality in certain business dealings, I don’t agree that simply forbidding employees to make any mention of their career is an effective way of ensuring this. (For the record, the alleged violation of Friendster’s confidentiality basically consists of the following comments (to paraphrase) on the employee’s blog: “Yay, we moved to PHP! I’m glad that I was able to help make the site work better…”). In case Sassa hadn’t noticed, he’s running a company that is based on the idea that people want to be able to share experiences (for instance: school, life… their JOB) with each other! Apparently, this somehow doesn’t jibe with his plans for the dumb-ass, reality TV future and although Friendster’s been fun while it lasted, they are hardly the only fish in their particular ocean; I’ve heard some good things about MySpace.com so I guess I’ll give them a try. Perhaps I’ll see some of you there…