Music & identity

I want to mention an online identity adopted by bloggers, which isn't defined by text - but by music. Identity is complex, it is fed by a multifarious and changeable interest set. Online your identity is dynamic, and plastic. Music can be one of many defining characteristics by which people online locate and identify one another as being Like them. It's another method by which online communities of interest develop. Blogger.com recognises the value that music has for forging interest groups because an entire fields in your Profile is Favorite Music. These entries subsequently become hyperlinked tags, which when clicked take you to the profiles of other blogger.com folk who share that music favorite. Furthermore some bloggers are flagging the music they like by listing the music they are currently listening to in their side menu bar (this is also done for films, and books).

There is music social-software too, with their own listener communities. One of these is last.fm. "It is a music engine which is based on a collection of Music Profiles. Each music profile belongs to one person, and describes their taste in music. Last.fm uses these music profiles to make personalized recommendations, match you up with people who like similar music, and generate custom radio stations for each person." To see an example click on the Friends/Groups/Neighbours tabs.

You need to use the engine a couple of hundred times before it creates a large enough profile to be able to make recommendations, or link you to people who like the same music. Sometimes this works well, and sometimes it doesn't. In the latter example the person who shared the same musical taste didn't appreciate being contacted. So, some people use the tool for reasons other than community... i.e. for the personal recommendations perhaps.

[tag: identity]