Friend Me!
600 Years of Social Networking in America
Anyone who texts recognizes “LOL,” “2G2BT,” and “PRW” as shorthand for “laughing out loud,” “too good to be true,” and “parents are watching.” But did you know that in the 1800s—when your great-great-great-grandparents were alive—telegraph operators used similar abbreviations in telegrams? For example, “GM,” “SFD,” and “GA” meant “good morning,” “stop for dinner,” and “go ahead.” At the time, telegrams were a new and superfast way for people to network with others.
Social networking isn’t a new idea. People have been connecting in different versions of circles and lists and groups for centuries. The broad range of social media includes wampum belts, printed broadsides (early newspapers), ring shouts (secret slave gatherings with singing and dancing), calling cards, telegrams, and telephones. The invention of the Internet—and e-mail, text messaging, and social utilities such as Facebook and Google+—is just the latest way in which humans network for fun, work, romance, spiritual bonding, and many other reasons.
Friend Me! takes readers through the amazing history of social networking in the United States, from early Native American councils to California’s Allen Telescope Array (ATA), where researchers are hoping to interact with extraterrestrial beings. Learn how Americans have been connecting in imaginative ways throughout history, and you’ll see social networking in a whole new light.
| Format | Your Price | Add |
|---|---|---|
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978-1-5124-5292-1
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$37.99 | |
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978-1-4677-5931-1
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$39.99 | |
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978-1-5124-4240-3
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$19.99 |
Author: Francesca Davis DiPiazza
Francesca Davis DiPiazza grew up loving the smell of books; but as soon as she saw a computer, she thought, Terrific! more ways to share more words with more people! Online since 1994, she still uses an orange 1970s rotary-dial phone. One of her cultural geography books for Lerner Publishing Group, Zimbabwe in Pictures, won the Society of School Librarians International Book Award.
Awards
- SSLI Book Award Honor Book
Reviews
The Horn Book Guide
“From early Native American cultures to present-day scientists hoping to interact with possible extraterrestrial beings, people continue to reach out to others for a variety of purposes. Black-and-white photographs and diagrams combine with sidebars and a well-researched text to present the history and future of social networking and the means employed to connect with individuals and groups.” —The Horn Book
Library Media Connection
“This is a thought-provoking book on how human beings have connected over the centuries… If students read this book, they will learn significant facts about the history of society in America.” —Library Media Connection
VOYA
“Informative, interesting, and socially relevant—you will want to add this to your collection.” —VOYA
Booklist
“The solid information will make this useful for reports, while the pleasing design set off by touches of blue, as well as the sufficient black-and-white archival photos placed throughout, make this plenty appealing for browsers.” —Booklist
School Library Journal
“Unfamiliar words are defined in context, and numerous captioned black-and-white photos and sidebars add additional appeal to this fascinating topic.” —School Library Journal
Kirkus Reviews
“What this book does best is place current modes of social media and their impact in a historical context and encourage readers to think about social networking in a whole new way.” —Kirkus Reviews
