International Law

Troy Wolverton for the San Jose Mercury News explains why he is hooked on social networks:

In January, I received an e-mail through Facebook from a college friend with whom I'd long regretted losing touch.

Last month, as the Mercury News was about to announce layoffs, a contact on LinkedIn alerted me to some job openings at his research firm.

And last week on MySpace, for at least the 16th time in the past three months, I was asked to be friends with a flirtatious young woman - in this case "Stephanie" - who was a front for a porn site.

Ah, the world of social networking. Like the real world, social networking is clearly a mixed bag. After long resisting it, I finally took the plunge about 18 months ago. I worried before joining that social networking was a fad without any real purpose.

   Now I'm convinced it's here to stay. Some sites are not very useful. But I admit it: I'm hooked.

   That said, my experience with various sites has been uneven.

Read more here.