Ambient Awareness: on being ‘digitally’ close

A good article in the New York Times Magazine about the so-called 'ambient awareness' phenomenon:

"Social scientists have a name for this sort of incessant online contact. They call it “ambient awareness.” It is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through the little things he does — body language, sighs, stray comments — out of the corner of your eye. Facebook is no longer alone in offering this sort of interaction online." (from New York Times: I am So Totally, Digitally Close to You")

The article talks about the Facebook Friend Feed and how it originally was rejected by the users, but soon became the key to a burst of growth of Facebook. Twitter is also explored in detail. This is a good introductory article on the Twitter phenomenon.