I am a believer that basic social needs change very slowly, if at all, over time.  What does change is the way individuals, groups, families and society in general fulfill their needs and the options that technology presents.  Given this thesis, it is interesting to take some social networking learnings from an earlier mass explosion in social networking: the citizen band radio.  

During the late '70s through the '80s, it was cool to have a CB radio in your car.  These radios used to be the exclusive domain of the truck driver social network.  They were used to find the best food, gas, and probably companionship on the road.  They were also used to avoid speed traps.   The public awareness of this social network took a giant leap with the popular movie “Smokey and the Bandit.” 

The CB social network crossed the chasm from truck drivers to millions of personal automobiles. Semingly overnight, people all over the country were imitating the twang of southern trucker accents --  “That’s a 10-4, Good Buddy?” 

The CB channel was similar to the chat room of our Internet era.  Your participation in that channel with that particular set of people lasted as long as everyone was within about 5 miles of each other.  Users made up anonymous handles – similar to the IM and chat names.   My handle was “The Referee,” a reference to my hockey playing and amateur referee profession of the time.

The problem was finding someone a second time.  Unless you shared some personal information (which carried the same perils as today), your interaction on CB were quick and fanciful.   

“Hey, good buddy, what’s the 10-20 on Smokey?”  

Truck drivers must have been both annoyed and humored at Wall Street brokers imitating them in their BMWs.

So why did it die out and is there a lesson for today’s social networks?  That discussion will be in my next blog entry.

Jeff Pulver gives a clue to my next entry in his blog:

http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/006721.html