The New York Times technology blog had an observation worth noting today.  It turns out the idea of a facebook isn’t all that new.

Bryan Benilous, a historical newspaper specialist at the digital-archive company Proquest, said he and his colleagues came across a Boston Daily Globe article from August 24, 1902, titled, “Face Book The New Fad,” describing a party game where revelers sketch out cartoony caricatures for fun.

“I think it is interesting to note the similarities with this first iteration of Face Book as a shared social experience,” said Mr. Benilous. “It’s almost like having friends write on your wall in a much less tech-savvy way.”

There are more than a few similarities between current social-networking practices and early-20th century social practices, said Ellen Gruber Garvey, a professor at New Jersey City University and the author of an upcoming exploration of new media in American history called “Book, Paper, Scissors: Scrapbooks Remake Print Culture.”

Ms. Garvey also said it was common for Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries to keep guestbooks in which visitors and friends could scribble thoughts or jokes -– not unlike a MySpace or Facebook profile page.

And it isn’t just Facebook that’s been around a while. The researchers have also “uncovered a 1942 Washington Post article titled “Think Before You Twitter” about gossiping.”

Humans’ desire to create, to collect and to congregate isn’t anything new.  It’s just that technology has made it different.  We’re social creatures after all.

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