I love social media. I have been on Facebook since 2004, when it was just a network between the Ivy's. Back when it was "THE"Facebook.com, fancy that. I had a myspace at one point, but never really enjoyed my experience. In fact, the account still lingers out there somewhere -- because it has proven itself too difficult to delete.
The reason I bring up social media is because the idea of "life points" popped into my head again. It was a term that a friend or two back in college used to describe the number of Facebook friends you had. Almost more important than the quality of connections that you had (especially since at the time, you saw all of those people on your campus) was the number of friends. It was a raw indicator of how "popular" you were, based just on the number of people in your network. There would be short lived competitions between friends, the loser quickly admitting defeat, but wondering how he/she could get more friends...
It was all in good fun and jest. Clearly we knew our lives weren't validated by any number.
I currently have 1367 facebook friends. Is that a lot? It's all relative. I certainly know a bunch of people with a lot more
"But Jose, are all of those people REALLY your friends?? I bet you dont speak to half of them"
I dont speak to nearly all of them, on any frequent basis. But the way that I have come to understand it for myself (or come to terms with my addiction?) is that it is... a NETWORK. At some point or another, I met, knew, loved, was friends with, was a friend of a friend of.., worked with, stalked, was stalked by these people. They say, "Don't burn your bridges." So, why delete any one of your friends? Who knows when a reconnection, or mutual opportunity could arise. Especially for myself, who is an artist trying to get his work out there in the world...
And that's where LIFE POINTS came up again... I started using GoogleAnalytics with my artist website www.joseojeda.com . It's so cool! It tells me not only how many hits I have... but where they are coming from in the world. So it gives me this map of the United States (the world too, but those ambitions are for later...) with different States filling up with gradients of green. Now it has turned into a little game for me... I want to see the entire map colored in.
The map is interesting because it also lets me know what gaps I have in my network.
Has the game element started to become more important than the dissemination of my information?
Gotta make some friends/points in Kentucky...
-Jose
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