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25 October, 12:59 PM

Has the digital age of social networking created an obsessive need to amass as large a following as possible just to maintain status?

While cruising Facebook, I’m often amazed at how many friends people have and wonder what the quality of these relationships is. Do we really know these people? Do we really care about them? What was the criteria for them becoming our friend – or is there any criteria anymore?? Are we just auto-programmed to click “approve” anytime we receive a friend request? What does it really mean to know someone these days? Has the digital age of social networking created an obsessive need to amass as large a following as possible just to maintain some status?

There is a great article in the New York Times that hits this idea right on – Facebook in a Crowd is by Toronto based author Hal Heidzviecki’s commentary on a little experiment he did to see who is real Facebook friends are.

This really leads me to a greater discussion about the quality of the relationships that we develop online and whether our online relationships are creating a false sense of community.

Are there any online communities that really foster true meaningful communication and experience? Can the current model of online communities adequately support interactions that add value to our lives and relationships?

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