Sarah Morgan
This article called “Can You Put a Value on Virtual Relationship” ranks the worth of your online relationships thusly, in order of decreasing importance:
- email contacts
- blog subscribers
- LinkedIn contacts
- Facebook friends
- Google Buzz contacts
- Twitter followers
I would like to respectfully submit that this is utter garbage. For several reasons.
First, because nobody has ever given a hoot about Google Buzz.
Second, because Facebook interactions are more personal, and therefore much more important, than LinkedIn ones.
But third and mostly, because I take massive issue with the concept of “virtual relationships”. There are no “virtual relationships”. There are relationships – and there are stronger and weaker ones. I have a weak one with someone I see occasionally and I have a stronger one with someone I know casually and I have a much stronger one with a dear friend. But their strength or weakness has nothing to do with where I see them occasionally, or where we have our long and deep conversations. They might be through a computer or they might be at a picnic table. Who cares? The setting isn’t what determines their strength, or their “value”.
And, while I’m at it, I really dislike the idea of “valuing” relationships. Relationships aren’t houses in Monopoly. They’re people. And in my definition, people you care about. Not ones that you’re mentally tagging with a price gun.
Am I off base here? Do you think about people this way? Do you think about your online interactions this way?
Also, I have more “virtual” friends if you will that have turned in to real friends that originated on Twitter. Anonymity can be very truthful and weed out a lot of the fluff leaving only the tried and true. Plus, my mom is on Facebook and doesn’t get the Twitter thing yet, so how honest can one really be when they are “friends” with Mom. Plus it seems Facebook exists solely for Mafia Wars and Farmville anyway.
I would order it:
Blog Follower
Twitter
Facebook
Email
the other two can stay home and try to get a date the mop from the Swiffer commercial.
That’s a good point, too, Annie – another reason that you shouldn’t segregate people into “not worth as much” is because you can never tell which acquaintances will turn into dear friends.