The Society Page

I was just reading about a guy who inherited a trunk from his grandmother's basement that was lined with newspapers from 1912. In this paper there was a society page giving updates on the travels of several the towns citizens, listing out-of-town guests, announcing bridge parties and a cooking club get-together. He notes that these were the events in the life of common, everyday citizens, not celebrities. Yet people read this and wanted to know what was up in people's lives. Made me think of Facebook and Twitter. Are they the 21st century equivalent of the small town society page...but in real time?