Xbox Live as Social Networking
Microsoft has revealed that a new feature in the upcoming “fall” update for the 360 dashboard will allow Live users to peruse your friends’ list. Naturally, there is some adverse reaction to this.
I’m sure there are some that balk at having their friends’ list laid bare to the lowest common denominator of Xbox Live. Fortunately, Microsoft is providing the option to restrict your friends’ list as viewable by everyone, friends only, or no one. UNfortunately, the system defaults to Everyone, so be sure to adjust your settings as necessary.
For those that are wondering, some of these features are already part of the ZuneCard update. Honestly, the concept of being able to see other people’s friends’ lists isn’t a big deal to me one way or the other. I’ll be restricting the heck out of my list, but you can do as you see fit.
What I do find somewhat… annoying… is where Microsoft admits to pushing Xbox Live as a Social Networking platform. The press release announcing “friends of friends” reads:
With the prevalence of social media websites such as MySpace and FaceBook, this type of capability has largely come to be expected from consumers as a means to relate in an online community. Xbox LIVE continually seeks new ways to better serve the expectations of its members, which often result in enhancements made available for free through the bi-annual Dashboard updates.
Oh, great. XboxLiveSpaceBook. *vomit*
Just because social networking is the latest fad/internet bubble doesn’t mean we, as gamers, need these features. Again, I don’t inherently have a problem with this Friends of Friends feature, but I don’t want to see Xbox Live pushed into a social networking scheme where its usefulness as a catalyst for online gaming is diminished. For now, I am cautiously… I dunno… pessimistic? I’ll adopt a “wait and see” attitude before I declare this the “death of Xbox Live”.
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