The New York Facebook Network

Virtual home to some 822,452 New Yorkers (as of right now), the New York network on Facebook is one of the weirder corners of the internet. Many of the members have their profiles unlocked, so if you're in the network, you can click through and learn all sorts of details about total strangers that might just happen to live next door to you. G.F., for instance, went to college at the University of Alabama, likes Grey's Anatomy, and has a favorite quote of "Hellz Yeah Mofos!!!" Huh. And A.C. went to school in Korea and describes her religious views as "Jesus loves me this I know because the Bible tells me so." Thanks to Facebook, we share a virtual bond with G.F. and A.C., but of course, we don't really have anything in common except proximity. In some ways looking at the New York network page is an alienating experience--how could this person make the same choice we did to be here?--but on the other hand, it's perfectly reflective of what New York is: the place for people with nothing in common with anyone else to have in common.