4 ms·

Friends aren't profitable. You are much easier to be exploited if you are by yourself.

• icebraining 8y ago
  Anecdotally, the people I know who socialize (IRL) the most also spend the most, often into debt. Friends pull you into expensive activities, provoke a need of one-upmanship, etc. Whereas the people who give up "the race" are often loners. (This is not an argument against having friends, mind you!) Of course, it could be argued that social networks are a way to re-engineer "friendships" so that they provoke the spending part (looking good on the feed, winning in stupid games, etc) without giving the satisfaction that one might get from just spending time with them.
  • cyborgx7 8y ago
    >Of course, it could be argued that social networks are a way to re-engineer "friendships" so that they provoke the spending part (looking good on the feed, winning in stupid games, etc) without giving the satisfaction that one might get from just spending time with them. I'm actually seing similar strategies employed all over the place. Ever brand wants to build a "community" around them. But they are not doing anything to foster the connection between members. Because if the members formed connections they could act in solidarity with eachother and actually gain some amount of power through collective action. No, the only part of "community" they foster is the loyalty aspect. Loyalty to the brand. Because that is the part that is profitable.
• gaspoweredcat 8y ago
  very true, not that friends dont exploit us too, its just done in more subtle ways so you often dont notice it. but i have a very different way of looking at the world than most