…Other institutions do far better jobs at issuing social currency these days. What is Facebook but the Federal Reserve Bank of social currency? And it’s all social currency you can use! Like cocktail chatter, a Facebook posting–be it a link, a list, a photo, or travel plans–conveys the message, I am here. Listen to me. A well-executed Facebook presence, like a superb pontification at the bar or a great phone-in to sports talk radio, demonstrates one’s status within one’s existing social network. If skillfully wielded, a Facebook page can increase a person’s status by attracting “cooler” or more influential friends. These days, you can’t raise your status more than a bump by carrying the Wall Street Journal under your arm. —Jack Shafer in Slate. More here, and here.
rock culture approximately
