Inside Out

The topic of breaking up in the social communities era turns out to be very popular in the last month. I attended a core conversation on that subject @ SXSW. In general I think the web just adds a new dimension which has to be considered but if you are breaking up and you were sharing an apartment before a joint flickr account or a shared blog is just another thing that has to be divided and sorted.

It can be difficult if you change your facebook status a couple of month after the breakup, when you have just dealt with all the “real life” stuff and now you have to go through it again because people on facebook start asking you about what happened or your ex changed his/ her status befor you, or posted pic of the new love.

All theses things are similar to the real life but online communities might be able to offer possibilities to make a breakup which will never be easy, easier at least in the virtual dimension. This could turn out to be a important issue for the success of communities. At the moment facebook for example is struggling with privacy issues. If you want to open a fotosharing community account and you are connected in many communities, wouldn’t you prefer one that provides some privacy and breakup backup solutions? It wouldn’t be the main reason to choose where you sign up, but a pretty good argument among others that convince you to sign up or to love your community even more.