Social Networth

"If you can satisfy the psychological needs of humanity in a world of fantasy everyone will immediately invest in real estate in their imagination."

She woke up to the sound of an alert on her phone immediately signing on to her online account to check her messages on her desktop computer. Eyes still half open she read what she could make out through her blurry vision. With 30 minutes left before she was scheduled to work she allocated 10 minutes to driving, 5 minutes to getting dressed and the other 15 to both eating and checking her online accounts simultaneously. This being a regular routine for her made it easy for her to be prepared to leave with such little time. As she began to invest more of herself into her online presentation her physical appearance began to suffer. She began to spend more time taking the perfect bathroom picture than looking presentable in her true form. With much less feedback in the real world it is obvious how she arrived at such a decision. The occasional smile or compliment did nothing for her self esteem in comparison to a day full of thumbs up from horny strangers staring at her risque photos. Her shy nature would never allow her to be as expressive as her promiscuous online avatar. With a new name and identity she found freedom from the judgement of her real life acquaintances and friends. Along the way to her destination she couldn't resist responding to chat messages on her cell phone at every light and street in between. Finally she reached her destination and walked to her desk with one hand still stuck to the virtual keyboard of her device glancing in front of her occasionally to make sure she didn't walk into anything. After sitting down at her desk she started up her computer and spent the day balancing her work with hiding the pop up windows of multiple social networks from her nosy supervisor who was ironically doing the same thing unbeknownst to her. At last it was time to go home and join the online party with her cyber friends free from interruption.

Welcome to the cyber world of mafia wars, farmville gardens, digital love and on screen theme parks where you can mentally enjoy the ups and downs of your imagination. In a world always on the brink of war where death, destruction, ignorance, trauma and famine abounds the value of escapism is going through the roof. In the arena where drugs, alcohol, sex and TV have been regarded as champions for so long a new contender has overcome all three in the caged match of society. Who is this new undefeated fighter winning the minds and hearts of societies inner children? It is the social network where one becomes part of a community of people that only exist through online communication connected by wires and electric current. This allows people to live through a surrogate avatar and present their ideal version of what others will find attractive. The impact of this phenomenon is apparent as some of these networks boast a membership that rivals many countries. It seems as if we are all the president of a corporation in which we build up friends and followers instead of customers and likes and retweets instead of revenue. Millions seek to find their place at the top of the aspiring instant musicians of Myspace, video stars of youtube, Twitter celebrities, Linkedin businesses and Facebook icons. Social networking can be a powerful tool to share our experiences and ideas while gaining valuable and not so valuable feedback. It is a great way to connect with people who share a common vision and move toward a united goal. Certainly it is a place for the independent artist to spread their gospel and the small business owner to expand their business. These unfortunately are the minority amongst the attention hungry and socially deprived characters seeking the spotlight. Each one of these different platforms caters to a unique psychological condition. The users of Facebook pour out everything from their deepest thoughts to the current frustrations awaiting others to like what they say to satisfy their ego. Users flaunt the status of their relationship which becomes more valuable to some than a diamond wedding ring. Millions of groups are started spearheading social causes and political agendas. The use of the term friend to describe the connection between users has almost replaced it's original definition. Many now consider friendship to be a button click away as true friendship is destroyed by the dreaded add friend message after visiting a page you thought you were connected to. Major brands that have been etched in the minds of generations are forced to put a join us on Facebook sign on their doors to be considered official by the social network generation. The psychology of the Twitter user is aimed at the desire to worship and be worshipped as an icon. Idolatry at its finest is certainly the underlying motive here. The use of the term follower for the people you interact with suggests an imbalanced relationship rooted in self esteem issues. To build up a as many as followers as possible with no qualification of leadership is the goal. To accept yourself as a follower is a requirement to be noticed. The initial selling point of this site is the inquisitive fan wanting to know what his favorite celebrity is eating for breakfast and what they are doing at any given moment. This opened the door for all who desired to be in the position of the individual who attracts this kind of inquiry from others. There are certainly positive ways in which this platform can be used as well as it is one of the fastest ways to spread information and thus has been the revolutionary vehicle of choice. This can be seen in China, Iran, Egypt, Libya and others a a tool for social change and political upheaval. All tools has the potential to be used in beneficial as well as detrimental ways that will reflect the mentality of its users. More than anything there is an eminent danger of people finding the mental and emotional satisfaction in a place that exists only within our own collective on screen fantasy. This addictive path can potentially lead to a great decrease in personal interaction resulting in a greater loss of humanity. The internet serves as an artificial network connection between our thoughts as the computer simulates the function of the more complex human brain. The wireless telepathic connection between us is becoming dormant as it is replaced by a less efficient system of wires and computer programming. As people become more comfortable with sitting behind a digital mask they become less secure and comfortable with who they truly are leading humanity further down the road of insecurity, illusion, falsehood and unhealthy egotism. For those of us who see this happening we are given no choice but to log into the matrix to find each other and pull out those who have awakened to their own reality. The conspiracy theorists must look no further than the world wide web where the new world is online waiting for its next order. Use your avatar but don't become it or you risk being trapped in the web. You have real world value that is untapped. When the gold rush begins and man seeks his wealth in the dark cave of his own consciousness where will you be? In the free world or still plugged in. The voice is yours.