Promiscuous Friending? Me?

The Summer 2008 issue of Kaunana, the Research Publication of the University of Hawaii, contains an article about Online Promiscuity, Social Networks, and Reality TV. This study conducted by Dean Rosen, an assistant professor at UH, in partnership with the University of Buffalo in New York correlates those who watch more reality television shows tend to have more online friends who they have never met in person. This trait is called “promiscuous friending.”

Hmmm, my TV schedule does include reality television shows like Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and now Project Runway… and I have been getting more Facebook friend requests.

And who knew that social media like blogs “allowed individuals to create an identity and build a following in a way previously reserved for celebrities or avid seekers of fame”? So is that the real reason why I blog?

The takeaway from this article is that I must be blogging to be famous and to be a promiscuous friend. I feel so good about myself right now.

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