So, do you feel like becoming anyone's online pet today? No? Neither do I, but that's exactly what someone (who really should have known better) tried to turn me into. This gaffe was attempted through the unnamed individual adding a CommentCherry.com  application called Own Everyone to his MySpace page. This OpenSocial app is yet another piece of internet detritus spawned by CherryTap.com.

Now, I don't know which aspect I find more offensive:

    
1. that people would believe pimping out their friends under the mistakenly assumed guise of "harmless fun" is anything but anti-social, not to mention downright insulting!
    
2. that any app with OpenSocial's clawmarks anywhere near it can be trusted as benign

Sure, these kinds of insidious bullshit are rife throughout many social networking sites. Also rampant is the degree in which participation - especially where 3rd party apps are concerned - poses a ripple-down security risk.

If you've got a social network contact who's fond of such insipid cattle-mentality nonsense and/or who's chronically clueless, do yourself and the rest of your contacts a public service. Delete the hapless wonder before they cause you and your friends unimaginable grief. Internet privacy and security is everyone's concern.

As for the rest of the idiots, freaks and trolls... Let the bodies hit the floor!

Yes, this is the follow-up entry mentioned on February 12th. Will there be another? Doubtful. I've grown weary of trying to do this without anyone's feelings getting hurt. The only one who really suffers in the long run from my attempt to placate others is me. Nothing personal, folks.

For nearly two hours I've been pouring over any tidbits of wisdom with which to ease this knot in my gut. None have been forthcoming. This follows upon the heels of several days' worth of re-evaluating certain online associations. There have been changes elsewhere online. There may still be more changes as I seek to work with others in developing tangible associations based upon common ground. Simply having shared trivial pursuits in the wilds of Cyberia just doesn't seem to be enough to justify maintaining certain connections which I perceive as being rather one-way.

Again, I am tired. I am also usually in some degree of physical discomfort. And the longer this matter drags out the more likely I am to be less than diplomatic. There's been enough eloquent and/or succinct quote-worthy individuals to daisy chain a reasonable snapshot of tonight's gray matter smatterings...

"The concept of reason itself appears as an artificial attempt to separate intellectual powers from the frustrations, emotions, and accidents which cause events; the concept of reason is viewed as facade to prevent change." -  Edward Levi

"The self thus becomes aware of itself, at least in its practical action, and discovers itself as a cause among other causes and as an object subject to the same laws as other objects." - Jean Piaget

"Thus, the purposeful relationship of phenomena is based on the specificity of the stimuli, that correspond to similarly specific reactions." - Ivan Pavlov

"The paradox of reality is that no image is as compelling as the one which exists only in the mind's eye. -  Shana Alexander

There you have it. Now if you will excuse me, I've got an overdue engagement with some Biofreeze, two frozen gel packs, a couple of aspirin and some Tramadol. Tomorrow is going to be another long day.

Please bear with me. I'm finding this entry challenging to compose. I've been brooding lately over the Multiply networking equivalent of the Six degrees of separation. For years my modus operandi was largely based upon the "all-or-nothing" principle mostly because it's taken this long for a viable (note: not perfect) social construct to be incorporated into an online networking community. This is no longer the case.

Over the years I've been gifted to encounter many wonderful individuals both in the Big Room and here in Cyberia. I am grateful to know, on varying levels of familiarity, each and every one. However, this is where matters get awkward.

For those who can't or don't read the Multiply Staff Blog, separate Online Buddy settings are now available. There's been a great deal of discussion surrounding matters of "Friendiligence" on MUDS for quite some time. One reasonable concern is that of "contact demotions." Of course, when approached from a personal perspective, realistic assessment of any relationship can be measured within certain sets of variables. Now we're left with the conundrum of subjectivity vs. objectivity.

Individuals and the connections which may be formed with other individuals are not "objects." Rather, I prefer to view them as "subjects." But who wants to undergo such scrutiny? The fact is that everyone does, and some of us on a regular basis. I certainly know that I'm under simultaneous microscopes at any given time. So be it. That's my reality whether or not I like it.

Multiply member danbirchall summed up the concept of "Friendiligence" quite accurately...

"My thought is that in a theoretical ideal Multiply where people actually link to each other in ways that reflect reality (ha! ha!) my "network" consists of people I know and trust in real life, people they know and trust in real life, and people they know and trust in real life. It's a "web of trust" model to some extent."

So, how do we successfully address our online relationships to effect mutually agreeable connections? Where Multiply is concerned, changing horses in mid-stream shouldn't have to be a drama-laden affair. Please consider this entry as 1) an open invitation to publicly discuss Friendiligence in general, and 2) a means for my current contacts to privately (read: via PM- check "private"!) explore what setting works for us. As always, PMs received by me fall strictly under "Vegas Rules."

To flesh out upcoming changes a little better:

• existing posts: no access settings will be changed
• future posts: the majority (99.9%) will continue to be publicly accessible- that's just me ;oD
• contact settings: no one is being "demoted"- any changes are but pre-emptive adjustments
• updates: expect at least one followup to this entry
• anticipated timeframe: approximately two weeks +/-
• anticipated outcome: any of my current contacts that I haven't heard from within a reasonable period of time will be switched to Online Buddy
• recourse: of course, on a case-by-case basis

Interesting overall concept. Could be useful for realistic assessment of prioritizing goals, amongst other things. This post will likely be edited as I delve further into the interconnected 43 networks: People, Places, Things.

C&P of message just sent to someone who invited me into their Multiply network.
File under: "friendiligence"

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Thanks for the invite. To what do I owe the honor? I see that you visited my blog page. Mind filling me in on what we have in common, please? Fair warning: Multiply is not some superficial popularity contest. I noticed in your guestbook that someone had asked who you are. I understand your page being, well, empty if you're brand new to this service. I bet that will change soon if you plan to actually become active in this community. There's all kinds of great folks here on Multiply.

Word to the wise, though... Sending only the auto-generated invitation without personalizing it at all kind of defeats the premise of building a meaningful network. It would be to your benefit to at least mention what draws you to the person with whom you're trying to make a connection. I'm not saying no. I'm just asking that a few blanks be filled in so that your invitation will merit appropriate consideration. Thanks again, and enjoy Multiply.

I found it necessary to remove someone from my contacts a few days ago. I *do* like this person quite a bit. This individual, henceforth referred to as "X",  is one really neat soul. Unfortunately, some of X's contacts insisted on inflicting themselves upon me. X is not blocked. X doesn't deserve to be blocked. Again, I like X. Still...

One of X's contacts, who shall remain nameless, couldn't take the hint when 3 separate invites were declined. That individual is now blocked. I didn't want to do it; I had to do it if for no other reason than to spare both of us further repetition of pointless activity.

Another, who at least was courteous enough to respect the no-images condition for my guestbook, thought it would be kosher to PM me his crap instead. Matters of personal taste aside, many fail to realize that malicious code can be easily embedded within image files- especially the animated ones. Please don't ask me for specifics. I don't have time today. If there's enough interested parties, maybe in the future I can whip up a FAQ. And yes, this individual was also blocked, but mostly as a CYA.

I won't go into the other foolishness that's got more than ample potential to turn Multiply into the same tired troll fest that ruined everyone's fun on Yahell. One of the best things that Multiply has in its favor is that its focus is on quality versus quantity. That standard alone is why I've chosen to build my primary social networking home here on Multiply. This host's flexibility and all these awesome features don't hurt, either! ;oD

One last thing... Before anyone wastes their time mentioning it: I am well aware that it's possible to disable HTML in our guestbooks. I don't want to have to resort to that measure. One never knows what kind of fascinating links they might find in a guestbook, right? Enough outta me for now. L♥ve youze guys! *~*~*poof*~*~*