Bonds of data
The other day I was thinking about the significance of friending on Livejournal.
Initially I thought it had to be an act of significance, to show that you were familiar with a person. This wasn't a very good definition - it works if you know the person IRL but not for those more distant people because you can't get to truly know someone by just reading their journal. Then I came to understand how some people use the friending process to become more familiar with people by having easier access to their entries. It's just that 'friend' is such a strong term if the feature is used that way. 'Watching' might be more appropriate for a function like that but I'm pretty sure I'm not the first person to debate these semantics.
The experience of having a complete stranger friend me for the first time was a real shock. The idea that someone half the world away could enjoy my posts enough to subscribe to them wasn't something I could relate to even if I expected it. Now that I have some experience with it I'm happy to have strangers friend me but I can't friend these people back until I feel I've gotten to know them a little. I want the act to have some significance, however small. On the other hand I'm aware this might be a little hypocritical because I have friended people who weren't familiar with me. It all just perspective I guess.
In other news if for some reason you have not watched Gurren Lagann yet please endeavour to correct this. It's rampant popularity is nothing to be suspicious of. This show is absolutely as good as everything you may have heard and should be required viewing for anyone even tangentially interested in anime. Or just quality entertainment.
Initially I thought it had to be an act of significance, to show that you were familiar with a person. This wasn't a very good definition - it works if you know the person IRL but not for those more distant people because you can't get to truly know someone by just reading their journal. Then I came to understand how some people use the friending process to become more familiar with people by having easier access to their entries. It's just that 'friend' is such a strong term if the feature is used that way. 'Watching' might be more appropriate for a function like that but I'm pretty sure I'm not the first person to debate these semantics.
The experience of having a complete stranger friend me for the first time was a real shock. The idea that someone half the world away could enjoy my posts enough to subscribe to them wasn't something I could relate to even if I expected it. Now that I have some experience with it I'm happy to have strangers friend me but I can't friend these people back until I feel I've gotten to know them a little. I want the act to have some significance, however small. On the other hand I'm aware this might be a little hypocritical because I have friended people who weren't familiar with me. It all just perspective I guess.
In other news if for some reason you have not watched Gurren Lagann yet please endeavour to correct this. It's rampant popularity is nothing to be suspicious of. This show is absolutely as good as everything you may have heard and should be required viewing for anyone even tangentially interested in anime. Or just quality entertainment.