More than anything else, the social network has made one thing clear: people want to be noticed on even the minutest levels. So-And-So just checked into their beloved sushi restaurant, or maybe they’re drinking a noteworthy scotch at a particularly nice bar. In some cases it seems to stem from sincere comradery. A sort of taunting but sincere “wish you were here” type of thing. In other instances, typically by a repeat offender, these “updates” have more to do with bragging than a sense of community.

And then there’s this press release from Kobo in Publishers Weekly:

Kobo unveiled a new social e-reading app for BlackBerry smartphones at the BlackBerry World conference currently being held in Orlando, Florida. The app ties into BlackBerry’s BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) platform, which lets developers build social networking apps for BlackBerry (the platform is still in beta).

The Kobo eReading App for BlackBerry smartphones lets readers hook into various social networking functions while reading and buying e-books. The app’s functions include the ability to see whether BBM friends own e-books the are shopping for, chat with friends and browse friends’ Kobo libraries.

Now don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing as nice as sharing books with friends. I also have absolutely no problem with eBooks and in no way is this a comment on them. Obviously, you can probably tell I’m about to change direction here.

The notion of sharing my library in some sort of social networked cloud is about as appealing to me as a letting a random stranger photograph my apartment. While there’s nothing to hide, I just don’t care to share it with the world. So while I fully confess my cloistered concept of my personal library, I’m curious about how many of you, noble MobyLives readers, already use or are excited about such communal concepts of the personal library.

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