Friendster Addiction.

It's a nasty little drug. They suck you in seeming so innocent. Just a few pictures, a few friends. A little way to kill a few minutes at work. It was like yearbooks of old - leaving pithy messages on other people's pages. It was glowing and happy.

Then it got weird. You started searching for people you used to know. That old girlfriend. The guy you sat next to in biology. And those people searched for you. Do I really need to talk to the person I worked with in during college? And do they really need to be my "friendster"?

By now you're going for hits a couple of times a day. To see if anybody's written you. Any new testimonials. Some glitch doesn't let you see your mail right away and you spend hours "refreshing" your browswer, hoping you can get your fix. And you're browsing through hundreds of profiles - maybe your next best friend is in here. Your future spouse. Your next employer.

They'll end up finding you a year later, scraggly beard reaching to your belly, tenaciously clutching your mouse, muttering to yourself something about "activity partners." Your real friends have been lost for ages - they're on the list, who needs them anymore? You don't even resemble your profile picture anymore. And you just keep friendstering... keep hoping for one... more.. hit...

posted by opus  at 5:27 PM