Word: friendsters
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Dates: during 2003-2003
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Alas, such self-important dreams were not to be. No matter how suited the site’s particular brand of judgmentalism seemed to Harvard students, the same campus that ardently embraced Friendster this summer quickly and rightly condemned the facemash as hurtful and demeaning—not to mention illegal under a number of University regulations. The thrill of rating our fellow students and the chance at being named the third-hottest guy or girl in all of Leverett House were not, in the end, as powerful as the urge to protect privacy and defend ourselves against the potential...
...asked a few of my online inner circle. Over half of the respondents recommended that I always accept friend requests. “I just bite the bullet and let them be my friend,” says Sarah, a Friendster member since March 2003. “I’m a wimp like that.” You’re not a wimp, sweet Sarah, you’re a “friend whore”—a person who shamelessly allows anyone to enter her e-ranks...
...instances like Sarah’s, we justify accepting a friend we can’t stand with social etiquette. We insist it’s rude to reject someone. This person has taken the time to invite us as a friendster, and it is common courtesy to accept. Besides, what is so bad about having someone’s picture linked to your profile on a silly website that people visit when mindlessly procrasterbating...
...Accepting your undesirable acquaintances makes it look like you’re happy with the relationship. It’s an easy trap to walk into—you get to avoid slighting your peer and expand your web of friendsters. But if the person you dislike attends Harvard—and is in your House, active in your extracurricular, or in section with you—your online relationship will inevitably spill over into real life. Your unfortunate acquaintance might attempt to strengthen the “friendship,” or, even worse, try to make you more...
...basis of any relationship, online or otherwise, should be honesty. Just level with your online acquaintances. And if honesty just isn’t your thing, you can always be evasive. As Jill, a Friendster user since August 2003 says, “I have a ‘friend’ that I just never add. I keep him waiting on the request list while I approve other new people who I actually like. Maybe he’ll get the message when my friend count keeps increasing without him.” Don’t let your...