Kathy Sheppard and I were talking about social networks and how they are being used in todays world. She commented that her Dad was into amateur radio, a social network from the 20th century. Amateur radio was a wonderful way to meet people from all over the world and it has been around for about 75 years. In order to get “online” individuals would have to pass certain tests by the FCC, but once the tests were completed and the equipment was purchased, thousands of people spent all of their free time talking to people all over the world. Friends that you would never meet in person were in contact via amateur radio on a daily basis. Amateur radio and real time IM are very similar — so I guess social networking is not as new as we thought!