A few months back we announced a feature that came by popular request: separate access settings for Online Buddies.

As you already know, the Online Buddy relationship type on Multiply lets you connect with a single individual, without becoming part of their network, and vice versa. This is useful when you want to add someone you may not know that well as a contact: if you don't know them that well, how likely is it that you know the people they know?

Using the new settings, you're able to choose whether to include or exclude your Online Buddies, not only when posting content, but also for sharing your profile information, like your last name, e-mail address, interests and such.

First we previewed it for you.

Then we announced that it was available.

And now, we're curious to hear how you've made use of it.

Is the feature as useful as you hoped it would be? Is it more?

Have you added more contacts you otherwise wouldn't have been able to before?

Were you able to reclassify any existing contacts following the introduction of the feature?

On Online Buddies

If you use Multiply, you're certainly already aware of what makes it different than other social-sharing-networking-Web2.0-addmeup sites. Instead of having a list of generic buddies or contacts, on Multiply, you specify your relationships, which makes the way you're connected to others easier to understand. (But you already knew all that. :-)

Our thoughts on the matter have always been that you should only add individuals that you know and trust as contacts. We later added the Online Buddy relationship type when it became clear that users desired a way to connect with people that they may not necessarily know as well as their "real world" contacts. For instance, when you connect to another user as an Online Buddy, their contacts don't become part of your Multiply network, and vice-versa. But we still believed that you should trust all individuals with whom you connect as contacts.


The Change

It seems that some users have different feelings on the subject. One of the most requested changes on Multiply (ever!) is a special access level for Online Buddies, a way to keep the contacts you kinda/sorta know separate from the ones you know very well.

Something like this:


So we're changing our tune a little. Coming soon, we'll be moving Online Buddies to its own category (joining "Friends," "Family" and "Professional Contacts"). As such, you'll be able to specify whether or not you want to share with Online Buddies when selecting "Contacts."


But... also!

These changes don't only apply to the content you post.

Now, we're extending this new access level to the other places on Multiply where you can already choose to whom your information should be made available, including your profile and account information, as well as the Contacts, Groups and Guestbook boxes on your homepage.

It's important to point out how these changes will affect content that you've already shared on Multiply. Anything that you've already posted for "Friends" (under the "Contacts" option) or "Friends, and their Friends" (under "Network") will no longer be accessible by your Online Buddies. You'll need to go back and edit those posts to explicitly give them access again. Content posted for your "Contacts" or "Network" will continue to be available to your Online Buddies.

Another important thing to remember... this is all Coming Soon!
We'll be sure to let you know as soon as we know when "soon" is. :-)

One of the (many) things that makes Multiply different than the hordes of generic social networking-type services available are relationships.

On Multiply, your contacts are more than just generic "friends" – and your relationships with them are more than just a simple title. The relationship type you choose will determine how much of your contact's network you become connected to through your relationship with them. In addition, relationships not only help you determine which posts on your message board are worth reading... but also help us determine which users should be in your network. All relationship types serve to include new people in your network, save for one – Online Buddy.

While we realize that people may relate differently to those they know exclusively via the Internet, within the context of Multiply, the Online Buddy relationship connects users to one another, while not further connecting them to other users in one another's networks. This relationship type is great for, say, keeping up to date with someone who posts interesting content, but may not be someone you know well enough to accept into your network.

So if you have someone that you'd like to share with, but don't quite want to entrust with the immense responsibility of also connecting with the people you know, the Online Buddy relationship is there for you!