Psychosocial effects of recent changes in Friendster and The Seduction Part 1 - b
Friendster.com, founded by entrepreneur Jonathan Abrams, has had quite a following since it's go-live date in 2002. Garnering over 20 million members in the few years it has existed, it is now one of many online social networking sites that many experts say have a collective of well over 50 million individual users, many of whom have multiple "accounts" within the same site and across multiple. Most users of such popular online networks are young adults, entering, enrolled in or just finishing their higher level education.
With so many users across the nation (and recently, across the world) one must wonder how social networking sites will affect this generation and those to come. With overtones of globalization, Friendster.com itself claiming that it "aims to make the world a smaller place," and the seductive qualities that have indulged many addicted college students, in fact causing some to be expelled or lose their scholarships, it is impossible to ignore this phenomenon as just some fad like the sideways ponytail (which some bitches apparently still attest to... you know who you are).
Naturally, there is the post-modernist cliché of the McLuhan analysis: "All media are extensions of some human faculty - psychic or physical." (The Medium is The Massage, Marshall McLuhan p 26) Also: "the wheel is an extension of the foot, the book is an extension of the eye, clothing, an extension of the skin, electric circuitry, an extension of the central nervous system." (p 31-40) If so, of what is Friendster.com an extension? Before I continue being this journalistic charlatan, which, actually, I'm stopping right now - I want to discuss a recent change in the innerworkings of our beloved Friendster.com.
We've been through the many add-ons (some horrible, some great), the facelifts (the most recent one being the most atrocious), and all the bugs they never fixed (like when it always alerted you of a new message when you didn't have one, thereby causing the deeply psychological effect that maybe... just maybe, someone actually would think to message a shit-face like you... yeah, remember that? you social networking whore?). The most recent travesty done to Friendster.com is the ability for users to see who has recently viewed their profile. (I realize, you can turn this option on/off, unlike your limited attention span - so just bear with me here) No new feature has been specifically designed to increase users' vanity to such an extent as this since they started showing how many users viewed your profile on a weekly basis. On the obverse, it also makes you much more selective of whose profile you look at... and forget checking out profiles of hot people - can't stand the thought of rejection.
So of what, then, is Friendster an exension of? It is the extension of our egos. Take that how you might, but you can't escape it. Every little piece of information, from your age, interests, pictures, and the people you are connected to, real or not, is in some way a manifestation of your ego on your social-networking-site of choice. And I, for one, cannot escape the McLuhan view that the medium manifests itself into ourselves. Anway, here's a short update on the seduction:
Date on Friday evening. However, I'm beginning to find that it is really hard to seduce someone you aren't even interested in, but I just want to get him to where I can manipulate him. I also have come to see that I need a purpose, and seeing as how I'm not really in need of a power trip (I got shit for that, haha... just kidding... I'm not a coke head), I think I'm going to use him to get to his friends - provided he has any... because if you know me at all, I'm a people person... and it would be nice to have a million friends. Or I'll end up doing more jobs, offing cheating husbands, objects of jealousy, enemies and competitors for vast sums of money... which is a profession I am trying to quit - like my alchoholism.
With so many users across the nation (and recently, across the world) one must wonder how social networking sites will affect this generation and those to come. With overtones of globalization, Friendster.com itself claiming that it "aims to make the world a smaller place," and the seductive qualities that have indulged many addicted college students, in fact causing some to be expelled or lose their scholarships, it is impossible to ignore this phenomenon as just some fad like the sideways ponytail (which some bitches apparently still attest to... you know who you are).
Naturally, there is the post-modernist cliché of the McLuhan analysis: "All media are extensions of some human faculty - psychic or physical." (The Medium is The Massage, Marshall McLuhan p 26) Also: "the wheel is an extension of the foot, the book is an extension of the eye, clothing, an extension of the skin, electric circuitry, an extension of the central nervous system." (p 31-40) If so, of what is Friendster.com an extension? Before I continue being this journalistic charlatan, which, actually, I'm stopping right now - I want to discuss a recent change in the innerworkings of our beloved Friendster.com.
We've been through the many add-ons (some horrible, some great), the facelifts (the most recent one being the most atrocious), and all the bugs they never fixed (like when it always alerted you of a new message when you didn't have one, thereby causing the deeply psychological effect that maybe... just maybe, someone actually would think to message a shit-face like you... yeah, remember that? you social networking whore?). The most recent travesty done to Friendster.com is the ability for users to see who has recently viewed their profile. (I realize, you can turn this option on/off, unlike your limited attention span - so just bear with me here) No new feature has been specifically designed to increase users' vanity to such an extent as this since they started showing how many users viewed your profile on a weekly basis. On the obverse, it also makes you much more selective of whose profile you look at... and forget checking out profiles of hot people - can't stand the thought of rejection.
So of what, then, is Friendster an exension of? It is the extension of our egos. Take that how you might, but you can't escape it. Every little piece of information, from your age, interests, pictures, and the people you are connected to, real or not, is in some way a manifestation of your ego on your social-networking-site of choice. And I, for one, cannot escape the McLuhan view that the medium manifests itself into ourselves. Anway, here's a short update on the seduction:
Date on Friday evening. However, I'm beginning to find that it is really hard to seduce someone you aren't even interested in, but I just want to get him to where I can manipulate him. I also have come to see that I need a purpose, and seeing as how I'm not really in need of a power trip (I got shit for that, haha... just kidding... I'm not a coke head), I think I'm going to use him to get to his friends - provided he has any... because if you know me at all, I'm a people person... and it would be nice to have a million friends. Or I'll end up doing more jobs, offing cheating husbands, objects of jealousy, enemies and competitors for vast sums of money... which is a profession I am trying to quit - like my alchoholism.
posted by Brndn at 3:41 AM
1 Comments:
Can't you tell how many people read your blogspot everyday too? I wouldn't know because I don't have one. Keep me updated on your seduction - you are such a user! But who am I to talk, takes one to know one, am I right? Kisses.
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