Day 29

Yesterday, one of my Friendster invites e-mailed me back, claiming ignorance--confusion--over whether he should befriend the me on the left side of my photo or the me on the right side. Alas, an excuse. But at least I know he got the note. He didn't join Friendster.

So the question is inevitable, after nearly thirty days of constant usage and trumping of this cause and little success at all: Why keep a Friendster account? At one time, I had hoped that Friendster would help me keep in contact with a few friends who have since moved on out of the area. But those friends don't use their account, I take it, because they have not replied to any messages I've sent. Perhaps, I might be able to dig them up on some other network, or perhaps they are lost to the oblivion that is humanity, the billions of us that haunt this planet, often with the same name, and make it difficult to find the one person we are looking for. So obviously, keeping tabs on people is not the main reason to keep the account.

And yet, after this thirty days is over, I probably will keep the account open. Why? Sure, I like the idea of disappearing, especially if the account isn't being used. I'm kind of tired of the whole social networking thing anyway. Going nondigital seems kind of cool. But I also hold out hope that out there someone might be looking for me who I want to be found by. That, I suppose, is one reason I'll keep the account, as well as many of the other accounts I have. Another is that the only way onto many of these sites is to have a profile registration one's self. So it's a matter of convenience, keeping a profile just so that one can occasionally--even rarely--get onto the site should it prove useful. But will it?

After twenty-nine days, here's what I have to show for my efforts: twenty-four Friendster friends written, two replies; fifteen acquaintances written or added as friends, one reply; seven invitations extended, one acceptance; forty-five strangers written, one reply; five profile views; two added friends.