The acronym “FOAF” for friend-of-friend has a long history
in print, dating back to at least the 60’s in folklore
studies, and has been common currency on the 'net as
long as I can remember. I’ve started to see a new
useage, “foaf”, more of a word than an acronym, and
in contexts where it’s clear that this is not just another
“i hate capitals and punctuation so i dont use them”
posting. Has anyone seen this useage in print, i.e.
not just on someone’s personal web page, in an email message, or on a message board? Have you seen it in
any articles? I’m trying to document its useage.
Jan Brunvand, noted urban legend researcher, uses the term friend-of-a-friend quite a bit in his books. But I can’t recall if he every abbreviated it as FOAF or foaf.