"I think there is a phenomenally deep connection between networks and goodness. I think the reason we form social networks in our lives is precisely to create and sustain all kinds of good and desirable properties."
— Nicholas Christakis (Greek American physician and social scientist)
True that in some sense, pragmatically we engage in social networks for the sake of sustaining helpful and affable connections. Nowadays relationship maintenance does not necessarily require constant physical meet ups or phone calls. All we have to do is press the switch on button and our friends are just a "like" or message click away. Convenient isn't it? Spending less time on each but being able to sustain more relationships at once.
Everything is being multitask-ed nowadays. Can't blame the world for that though, since Time is the only true FAIRNESS all humans alike possess. It's only logical that we try to work our way around such a frustratingly unsympathetic entity. Well, most say that by concurrently performing various tasks and talking to several people in different MSN chat boxes is the best way to exploit time. But I beg to differ..
I'm not claiming that complicating your brain in this manner is harmful, rather I don't agree that time is the most well spent here. Ya sure, this calls for more 'friends' and a wider circle of connections; but with divided attention, how can one establish firm and rooted rapports? Keeping close friends are time and attention consuming hobbies. You need tons of concentration and effort to nourish it.  |
| Best Friends knows each other best? |
Somehow all I see nowadays are broad surface exchanges, unlike the devotions buddies use to have for one another in the old times. Indeed, weak superficial ties have increased but what happened to BFF-knows-you-best?
Traditionally friend (known also as strong ties) denotes a co-operative relationship that is based on knowledge, respect, loyalty, and support in times of stress or crisis. Friendship can grow from participating in common activities, spending time in common work or study spaces, and usually involves discovering common values. A friend protects and looks out for a friend. Honesty and some degree of intimacy are hallmarks of friendship. But frankly, how is it likely that people are able to take time to discover common values and spend time together with all the hundreds or even thousands of friends?
So are ALL your Facebook (FB) friends truly your friends? Or is the term being used too loosely nowadays because of blooming social media? To the extent that friend is anyone whom you might have seen or say hi to somewhere in school, adding them for popularity's sake?
Is FB a place for socializing or advertizing? Honestly, I'm confused. Everyone seem to be friending anyone for no specific reasons. I don't think I'm the only one to have received strange friend requests from people across the globe you've never met before. Why then are they doing this for? Because they believe you might be a potential friend?
Probably this is what Simon (1971) meant when he deduced an emerging Attention Economy. It's hard to ignore how everyone is fighting to shine brighter. Some add you as friends to be pretentiously interested, in return for your attention. No doubt, there are analysts like Granovetter (1973) who claim that having a mixture of weak and strong ties holds the society together. The trouble here is, a lot of people nowadays are too focused on gathering weak ties than strengthening the strong ones. We all know the vitality of connections (strong-weak ties) in gaining status, especially when business is the core of most contemporary economies. But what happened to genuine love and concern?
Hopefully I am being too bias here.
Furthermore, social networks tend to draw people with similar interests together. Unfortunately this also equates to repelling others who fancy the opposite. It is innate to all man that we tend to search for and absorb information via a tilted pair of lens. Naturally, we look out for materials supporting our positions and neglect data that reject our beliefs. Thus, when a group of for example "whites only" (anti-African Americans/Asians) community gather and discuss their viewpoints, they will only serve to validate each other's implicit prejudice by offering their own evidences. As a result, this strengthens their disgust for an out-group member, further negating their actions. The other party would defensively receive the ill treatment and reciprocate with their share of abhorrence, eventually simulating a vicious cycle. Hence the double-edged internet acts like a lubricant to the fire, accelerating strained ties between groups at odds.
So what do you say? Social networks = more friends really?
Perhaps it's time to clean up your FB & Twitter account.
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Granovetter, M.S. (1973). "The Strength of Weak Ties", Amer. J. of Sociology, Vol. 78, Issue 6, May 1360-80.
Simon, H. A. (1971), "Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World", in Martin Greenberger, Computers, Communication, and the Public Interest, Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, ISBN 0-8018-1135-X
