We’ve all played around with FaceBook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Flickr and mySpace, it’s fun and it’s a great way to stay connected. Well now there is a geeky way to connect and although it’s not new it is becoming the new trend on the web. It’s called microformats and it’s all in the code.

What are microformats?
According to microformats.org they are “designed for humans first and machines second, microformats are a set of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted standards”.

So what does that really mean?
Microformats are embedded in web pages using bits of xhtml to represent things like people, tags or events. Microformats support feeds and APIs for your website in the fastest and simplest way. And they also help provide a way to publish reliable information on the Web.

So what do these bits of code look like?
Technorati uses the RelTag to tag it’s blogs RSS feeds, the code looks something like this:

<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/[tagname]" rel="tag">[tagname]</a>

You can find out more about Technorati tags here.

So what does this have to do with Social Networking?
Meet XFN™ (XHTML Friends Network) the microformat that puts the ‘human face’ on linking. Huh? Ok, let’s say I’m friends with KB and I also worked with her, my link to her would read like this:

<a href="http://kgbfiles.blogspot.com/" rel="friend co-worker">KB</a>

Now she could also link to me the same way then others can see how we are connected, make sense? Here are other tags that can be used:

acquaintance: Someone who you have exchanged greetings with
contact: Someone you know how to get in touch with
met: Someone who you have actually met in person
colleague: Someone in the same field of work/study
muse: Someone who brings you inspiration
sweetheart: Someone close to you
crush: Someone you have a crush on

So why do people do it?
I think the point of XFN is help connect your contacts across multiple networks. Doesn’t it drive you crazy every time you join a new network and you have to fill out your profile and then invite all your friends to join? XFN makes it easy by making your information portable. Plaxo says it best, “we believe strongly that users should have ownership, control, and portability of their profiles and friends list. No service you use should claim your data as their own and keep it trapped in their “walled garden”.” Nicely put. Although not all Social Networks are XFN friendly it is predicted to become the norm of the semantic web and not just for Geeks.

If you want more information on XFN check out these sites and articles:
Xhtml friendly network
XFN, relationship minefield
XFN for n00bs
Building a open Social Graph

When I first started on Facebook there was a lot of talk of viral marketing and how great social networks were for promoting your business. My time on Facebook so far has been reuniting with old friends and schoolmates, some threatening to post old pictures from high school. That makes me wonder – is Facebook a place you want to conduct business?

I decided to go on Marketplace to check out people looking for work. I found one ad for babysitting – only she can’t spell babysitting. Everyone makes spelling mistakes though; I’m one of the worst ones. I went on to her profile to see what kind of person would want to look after kids. Under her causes there was ‘legalize it!’ (Marijuana) and ’stop child abuse’. There is so much you can learn from her profile – more then if you decided to interview her. Education-Portal.com wrote, "Out of the employers surveyed, one in ten said they planned to review social networking site profiles prior to making a hiring decision. More than 60 percent said the information they see on these profiles will influence what they think about the job candidate, and more importantly, who gets hired and who doesn’t. The other 40 percent are undecided as to whether or not the images and text seen on such sites should factor into a hiring decision."

Web Worker Daily states in their article "12 Ways to use Facebook Professionally" that your profile is very much like personalizing your desk space at work – drawings from your kids, a picture of your partner, or a book you are currently reading. Web Worker Daily warns though "Only display on your profile what you’d put on your desk. Just because Steve owns a picture his buddy took of him getting sick after an all-night party doesn’t mean he’s going to frame it and put it out for his co-workers to admire. Don’t add anything to your profile that you wouldn’t display for your supervisors, co-workers and clients to see as they’re walking by your work environment."

It just like that girl who is advertising to babysit, I’m sure she is fully capable but is that "legalize it" going to deter potential clients or maybe attract them? Ms. Li said in a recent Globe and Mail article "If I know something about the person selling and if that person is in my network, I have a bit more confidence in working with that person," She also suggests that "placing advertisements through Marketplace is more effective than other online ad networks such as Craigslist and Google Adwords, because of the personal touch it provides."

Yes, it does provide a personal touch but I think for now I’ll keep my high school pictures and my profile separate from my work.

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