Andrew Taylor on the Business of Arts & Culture
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Connection as competition
Posted: July 22, 2005
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An associate forwarded a link to this AOL feature that lets you measure your social network against anyone else on the system...and determine the ''winner.'' Says the FAQ:
Using a complicated algorithm, AIM Fight crawls through the depths of the Internet to answer the all-important question that plagues us all: How popular am I right this second?.... Your score is the sum of the current number of people online who have you listed as a buddy, out to three degrees. This means the score is constantly changing, and the winner of the battle will constantly change with it.
Admittedly, the AOL feature is more for smirks than for smack-downs, but it exposes a bit of the desperation or narcissism that's enabled by a global bucket of isolated individuals. (Okay, I'll admit that I check my Technorati profile frequently to see who's talking about me.) Where status was once determined by who your ancestors were or how many expensive possessions you accrued, a new measure has become how connected you are at any given moment of your day.
Asks my associate:
''How are cultural organizations supposed to provide meaning and/or entertainment to people who:
- Care about these kinds of questions, and
- Expect to get instantaneous and constantly-changing feedback in response...
- For free?''
To which I answered, ''I have no idea.'' Can someone out there help us out? If so, post a comment.