[LINK] "The ‘Face Book Fad’ Is More Than a Century Old"

[rfmcdonald]

Over at The New York Times Bits blog, Jenna Wortham points out that social networking technology didn't develop out of the void.

Remember that dispute about whether it was Mark Zuckerberg or some other Harvard students who really dreamed up Facebook a few years ago?

Well, it turns out that the notion of putting notes and images on a host’s “face book” was around long, long before Mr. Zuckerberg posted anything on his Wall.

Bryan Benilous, a historical newspaper specialist at the digital-archive company Proquest, said he and his colleagues came across a Boston Daily Globe article from August 24, 1902, titled, “Face Book The New Fad,” describing a party game where revelers sketch out cartoony caricatures for fun.

“I think it is interesting to note the similarities with this first iteration of Face Book as a shared social experience,” said Mr. Benilous. “It’s almost like having friends write on your wall in a much less tech-savvy way.”

Back in February I blogged about the tantalizing continuities between past and present in our informational environment. It's nice to see that it goes further back and more intensely than I'd thought.