How much are you worth in your network? Can you put a dollar sign on this? Are you worth more or less in yoru social network than some of your friends? How would you quantify this?
I’ve never thought about ‘how much I am worth’ in my social network. As far as people needing or wanting to be my friend, I think I may of some value in that aspect. I really don’t think I could put a dollar amount on how valuable I am. To some friends I am probably more (or less) valuable. Am I worth more or less in my social network than some of my friends? One example I can think of where I’d be “more valuable” than some others in my network would be if my former dance teacher needed someone to choreograph a show for her, then I’d be of more value than someone who had never danced before. It all depends of how that other person needs you that qualifies you as more or less valuable. As far as just the social aspect of it all I don’t think I am more or less valuable than any of my other friends.
I’m not sure at which angle this prompt was meant to be approached. Given the subject of the course, I expect that this refers to online social capital. However, it also is relevant to “in person” social capital (for lack of a better way to describe this). In both networks, I’m unsure how to measure my worth. It appears to be a completely subjective question. A dollar sign cannot be put on my worth in a network, but a dollar sign can be put on the worth of the network to me. In my online network, my value is minimal. I barely use facebook, never use myspace, and have been known to avoid my e-mail entirely (on any given day). Last night I invited somewhere around seventy-five people to an event that I’m co-hosting in Allen. This last-minute form of communication would have been impossible in person. However, as an organizer my worth in the network spiked last night because my “power” to invite gave me worth. In terms of my interaction with people within my online network, I feel that it is practically worthless. I barely respond to wall posts, but if I do, my response is very short and border line impersonal. I rarely advertise for events/programs/parties via facebook, so my worth can’t really be judged in that sense. I feel that these questions are usually/expected to be answered by quantity of friends and involvement with network ongoings. I think that my worth in my network fluctuates based on my use of the network, but I don’t know how to compare my friends value to myself. I think that the measure of my worth could partially be gauged by my interactions with people (which as I mentioned, is minimal). Recently, my attention has been drawn to my worth in my “in person” network. I refer specifically to my value in my community here on campus and at Allen Hall. It wouldn’t be farfetched for me to say that here I have become well-connected and important to many people. My role on staff has increase my value here because of the function I serve in programming and organizing events in the hall. I have noticed that I serve the role as confidant for many of my friends. People come to talk to me and have told me that they do so because I’m “real,” “down to earth,” and honest. I feel that my worth in this sense doesn’t have a price tag, but can be measured in my constant and deep interaction with people.
I think for me to say that facebook gives me some "worth" in my network would be to admit that I believe that I believe facebook friends can be seen as some sort of capital, which I don't. That was a confusing sentence. I don't see facebook as myspace. As we discussed last week, I believe that on facebook, people put more emphasis on quantity than quality. I mentioned that every so often I'll go through my friends list and delete people that I don't talk to anymore or don't feel any need to stay in touch with. There are maybe 2 people out of my 800 or so facebook friends that I don't know personally and they're there for other reasons. I notice that people I already know are "popular" tend to have lots of friends, as well as people within the Greek system. I'm not an incredibly popular person and I have nearly 1,000 friends – this is only because I diversify my interests on campus and am involved with a lot of different groups. I guess as a sociologist, I can see that it's part of the human condition to want to feel needed or accepted, which is why we want lots of friends. Or to at least seem like we have a lot of friends. It equates to people liking us, which in turn makes other people like us. But, like I said, in the long run it's always quality over quantity.
Judging how much someone is worth on an online source where it is not required that money be used is quite a difficult subject to answer. For one, without an actual monetary exchange, how does one define value or worth? How do we, as students and individuals, compare ourselves to others, or rather, others to ourselves? Should we look at value and worth as a status? If we take it from this approach then do we find value in friends, photos, events we are attending, groups we belong to, how many wall posts we have, etc.? There are too many variables one could use to attempt to place a value on such information. I will start by approaching one’s worth in terms of quantity, rather than quality. If we are supposed to take a quantitative approach to figuring out one’s worth, then many categories would have to be included in this, including but not limited to: friends, photos, groups, networks, notes, posted items, and applications. Wall posts (posted on one’s wall by others) may also be taken into consideration. When we add all that up, does it actually mean anything? Beyond a pseudo-popularity contest, does it hold any substance? In my opinion, it does not. There is no reasonable way to designate a monetary value on any of the previously listed variables. Now, it we take a different approach, a qualitative one, how do we find one’s worth? It seems much more difficult to do it this way than the former. When we start looking for a qualitative worth, how do we define valuable factors? Can we find worth in friends’ wall posts if they include a gratuitous phrase such as “thank you”? If we look for variables such as these, our judgments are harder to standardize. By taking both examples of how one could attempt to measure one’s worth in comparison to others, I do not believe that I am any more valuable than any one of my friends, nor do I think that they are worth any more than me.
4 comments:
I’ve never thought about ‘how much I am worth’ in my social network. As far as people needing or wanting to be my friend, I think I may of some value in that aspect. I really don’t think I could put a dollar amount on how valuable I am. To some friends I am probably more (or less) valuable. Am I worth more or less in my social network than some of my friends? One example I can think of where I’d be “more valuable” than some others in my network would be if my former dance teacher needed someone to choreograph a show for her, then I’d be of more value than someone who had never danced before. It all depends of how that other person needs you that qualifies you as more or less valuable. As far as just the social aspect of it all I don’t think I am more or less valuable than any of my other friends.
I’m not sure at which angle this prompt was meant to be approached. Given the subject of the course, I expect that this refers to online social capital. However, it also is relevant to “in person” social capital (for lack of a better way to describe this). In both networks, I’m unsure how to measure my worth. It appears to be a completely subjective question. A dollar sign cannot be put on my worth in a network, but a dollar sign can be put on the worth of the network to me.
In my online network, my value is minimal. I barely use facebook, never use myspace, and have been known to avoid my e-mail entirely (on any given day). Last night I invited somewhere around seventy-five people to an event that I’m co-hosting in Allen. This last-minute form of communication would have been impossible in person. However, as an organizer my worth in the network spiked last night because my “power” to invite gave me worth. In terms of my interaction with people within my online network, I feel that it is practically worthless. I barely respond to wall posts, but if I do, my response is very short and border line impersonal. I rarely advertise for events/programs/parties via facebook, so my worth can’t really be judged in that sense. I feel that these questions are usually/expected to be answered by quantity of friends and involvement with network ongoings. I think that my worth in my network fluctuates based on my use of the network, but I don’t know how to compare my friends value to myself. I think that the measure of my worth could partially be gauged by my interactions with people (which as I mentioned, is minimal).
Recently, my attention has been drawn to my worth in my “in person” network. I refer specifically to my value in my community here on campus and at Allen Hall. It wouldn’t be farfetched for me to say that here I have become well-connected and important to many people. My role on staff has increase my value here because of the function I serve in programming and organizing events in the hall. I have noticed that I serve the role as confidant for many of my friends. People come to talk to me and have told me that they do so because I’m “real,” “down to earth,” and honest. I feel that my worth in this sense doesn’t have a price tag, but can be measured in my constant and deep interaction with people.
I think for me to say that facebook gives me some "worth" in my network would be to admit that I believe that I believe facebook friends can be seen as some sort of capital, which I don't. That was a confusing sentence. I don't see facebook as myspace. As we discussed last week, I believe that on facebook, people put more emphasis on quantity than quality. I mentioned that every so often I'll go through my friends list and delete people that I don't talk to anymore or don't feel any need to stay in touch with. There are maybe 2 people out of my 800 or so facebook friends that I don't know personally and they're there for other reasons. I notice that people I already know are "popular" tend to have lots of friends, as well as people within the Greek system. I'm not an incredibly popular person and I have nearly 1,000 friends – this is only because I diversify my interests on campus and am involved with a lot of different groups. I guess as a sociologist, I can see that it's part of the human condition to want to feel needed or accepted, which is why we want lots of friends. Or to at least seem like we have a lot of friends. It equates to people liking us, which in turn makes other people like us. But, like I said, in the long run it's always quality over quantity.
Judging how much someone is worth on an online source where it is not required that money be used is quite a difficult subject to answer. For one, without an actual monetary exchange, how does one define value or worth? How do we, as students and individuals, compare ourselves to others, or rather, others to ourselves? Should we look at value and worth as a status? If we take it from this approach then do we find value in friends, photos, events we are attending, groups we belong to, how many wall posts we have, etc.? There are too many variables one could use to attempt to place a value on such information.
I will start by approaching one’s worth in terms of quantity, rather than quality. If we are supposed to take a quantitative approach to figuring out one’s worth, then many categories would have to be included in this, including but not limited to: friends, photos, groups, networks, notes, posted items, and applications. Wall posts (posted on one’s wall by others) may also be taken into consideration. When we add all that up, does it actually mean anything? Beyond a pseudo-popularity contest, does it hold any substance? In my opinion, it does not. There is no reasonable way to designate a monetary value on any of the previously listed variables.
Now, it we take a different approach, a qualitative one, how do we find one’s worth? It seems much more difficult to do it this way than the former. When we start looking for a qualitative worth, how do we define valuable factors? Can we find worth in friends’ wall posts if they include a gratuitous phrase such as “thank you”? If we look for variables such as these, our judgments are harder to standardize.
By taking both examples of how one could attempt to measure one’s worth in comparison to others, I do not believe that I am any more valuable than any one of my friends, nor do I think that they are worth any more than me.
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