A few months ago I signed up to Friendster. I have 11 ‘friends’ in Friendster which connects me to 82,987 people in the system with four degrees of separation. The problem with the system, is that the vast majority of those people aren’t connected through people, but through uber accounts like “First Avenue” or “Macalester” which aren’t people at all. When you start doing that, the whole system falls apart I’d think.
Friendster is a novelty more than anything else. The notion of using it as a dating service is sort of absurd. I guess in theory it makes more sense than your traditional net dating service, but I can’t see how you could meet someone via a chain with 2 intermediaries you don’t know.
If nothing else, Friendster is a very slow, blog lite directory. (I’d link to my profile, but as far as I can tell, I can’t link directly to it. The system is far more popular than it is capable of being)
One thing Friendster has taught me (other than the fact that I have few friends) is that I really don’t have a lot of “get to know Gary” type stuff on my site. No resume. No favorite foods or bands or things I like to do on lazy summer afternoons. I wouldn’t know what to write. I’m not a very introspective person. I like what I like, and I do what I like, but I don’t sit around and think about what I like and why. I don’t even know if I can put together a good resume. That’s not to say I wouldn’t have things to put on a resume, just that I don’t know how to straddle the line between self deprecation and self flattery.
Another thing I have learned from Friendster is that everyone else is a 20-something, trendy hipster who likes to go to live shows to watch obscure alternative rock bands. Everyone else also has unique piercings and tatoos in various locations on their body. I’m odd guy out I guess. They should have online social networks for know-it-all, dipshit, 30 year olds who listen to music that no one else enjoys. I’d be styling then.
One thing you might have gathered if you read this site, is that I’m not very political. That’s not to say I don’t have my views. I do, and I believe them strongly. I just don’t see the point in getting worked up about everything and letting an obsession of events I can’t control run my life. I don’t wear my politics out on my sleeve. I’m far more interested in talking about technology, school or business ventures because those are things I can use, influence, and effect me on a daily basis. Also, those things tend of have a much more lasting impact. Go back any length of time you want and read the papers from that period and you’ll find some political issue that is totally forgotten now that was being argued with passionate intensity by everyone alive at the time.
(That being said, I will announce now my plans to one day become the US Ambassador to The Bahamas. I’m going to give a ton of money to some Presidential campaign with the strings of getting appointed ambassador. I’ll actually become a minor expert in the subject of Bahamain/US relations so there is a legit reason as to why I should be the ambassador. After getting my sweet house in the Bahamas for a few years, I will retain the title of “Ambassador” for the rest of my life. I will then buy a boat and name it the Am-BASS-ador….get it? People will think its because I like bass fishing, but in reality, it will be because I learned how to play the bass. If the Bahamas are not available, I will gladly accept any other shittly little island in a tropical part of the world.) Corollary prediction: this post will get dredged up upon my appointment and cause a major scandal.