Friendship Re-defined
Thursday, September 10, 2009 by Aalia
While researching for the essay I came across a short article "Make Facebook Friends? Bah. Buy Them!.". Reading it brought me up short and I can't help but marvel at the myriad ways people find to make profit off SNS's - a company, USocial after cashing in on Michael Jackson's death by selling his family followers, have now set their sights on Facebook. It is not enough that Facebook already has revolutionalised the aesthetics of friendship by democratizing weak and strong ties alike but now thanks to USocial, Facebook user's can buy friends. And not just one or two but a whopping 5,000 of them for a mere $654.30. A bargain right?
My initial reaction was one of incredulity and amusement, but I sobered up to realize that the company might not be shooting arrows in the dark. While it is laughable to think of buying friends when one can easily make them, there is a strong probability that such a market exists. And it is an unsettling thought that our civilization has eroded to such an extent that we are resorting to commodifying something that has been innate in humans and animals for centuries - the ability to bond.
On another note, what of the signaling theory that Donath was talking about? Will it still hold to be a reliable indicator if a loner Mr. X decides to buy 5,000 friends and ends up popular overnight? Is not deception that is being perpetuated at an extremely base level? It is also worth wondering where USocial intends to get these friends from - are they software programs standing in, or real people out to make a quick buck? Apparently flipping the notion that you can't put a price on friendship, the company aims to drive home the fact that in an intrinsically commodified and technological world nothing is sacred and so the notion might as well read "the price of my friendship is.....".
My question is: will you be willing to put a price on it?
My initial reaction was one of incredulity and amusement, but I sobered up to realize that the company might not be shooting arrows in the dark. While it is laughable to think of buying friends when one can easily make them, there is a strong probability that such a market exists. And it is an unsettling thought that our civilization has eroded to such an extent that we are resorting to commodifying something that has been innate in humans and animals for centuries - the ability to bond.
On another note, what of the signaling theory that Donath was talking about? Will it still hold to be a reliable indicator if a loner Mr. X decides to buy 5,000 friends and ends up popular overnight? Is not deception that is being perpetuated at an extremely base level? It is also worth wondering where USocial intends to get these friends from - are they software programs standing in, or real people out to make a quick buck? Apparently flipping the notion that you can't put a price on friendship, the company aims to drive home the fact that in an intrinsically commodified and technological world nothing is sacred and so the notion might as well read "the price of my friendship is.....".
My question is: will you be willing to put a price on it?