Tribe.net to be Revamped

I received the following email today from Tribe.net, which I discovered (and liked) long before I found Myspace, and later Facebook and LinkedIn. It appears that Tribe.net is back in the game.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November 11, 2008 -- Utah Street Networks and New Systems Associates today entered into an operating agreement to manage Tribe.net, one of the first social networking sites, add competitive social networking features to the site, and revitalize the Tribe community.

The first priorities for New Systems Associates are to stabilize the platform and improve the site's performance. To accomplish these goals, the company is committing substantial resources to upgrade Tribe's hardware and application. The hardware migration will begin immediately, resulting in better performance and stability users expect from a world-class social network. New Systems Associates will also add new features to improve connections within the Tribe community and to other social networks and widgets.

In the longer term, New Systems Associates will grow the Tribe community by developing features including advanced privacy features, profile control, regional relevancy, personal discovery, and free-range connectivity. The company is committed to strengthening Tribe's alternative community and the unique ways in which users interact.

Utah Street Networks, Inc. is the owner of Tribe.net, one of the oldest social networking sites on the Internet and pioneers of social graphing.

New Systems Associates is an LLC formed by long-time Tribe members who believe in protecting and expanding Tribe's unique culture.

For more information please email info @ tribe.net.

Social Networking for Book Lovers

I didn't know social networking sites for book lovers existed before a friend sent me an invitation to Shelfari. I was pleased. A typical list-making (over-analyzing) Virgo, I've been tracking the books I've read in an Excel spreadsheet for over 10 years. I was more than glad to have a way to share that information with friends, a way to see what they might be reading, and to answer any questions they might have about the books I've read.

So I signed up with Shelfari, and it was only later that I found there are several similar sites to choose from. So I did some digging around, and here are a few more I found:

http://www.goodreads.com/
http://www.gurulib.com/
http://www.librarything.com/

If you want to know which is right for you, there's a fairly in-depth review and comparison of Gurulib, Shelfari, and Librarything at the librarytwopointzero blog. Also, here's an article/review at Publishers Weekly.

Google, never to be outdone, launched their own version in Sept 2007, called MyLibrary. You can read more about Google's version on the Wired Blog.

And if you're still undecided, a few other sites are available:
http://www.whatsonmybookshelf.com/
http://www.bookswellread.com/
http://www.revish.com/


As for me, I'm glad I didn't research this earlier, before joining Shelfari, or I might've gone crazy with all the options. Overall, my Shelfari page is perfect for what I need it for, and it's got other features I don't even use (such as book reviews and book groups).

If you know of other sites, or would like to comment on any of the above, please leave it in the comments section.