Just Friends

I'm being contemplative today about a loaded word, "friends", used as a technological mechanism. Who should I friend on dA?

Twitter is nice and ego feeding with followers. Everyone on Facebook will say "Facebook friends," feeling the need to distinguish the concept (and implying that facebook friends aren't really friend friends).  I keep thinking slaves, minions, masters, submissives, and the like would be a lot of fun--like-minded pervert doesn't really roll of the tongue. I kind of like the idea of collecting more interesting relationships. Alas, dA calls pretty much all relationships "friends" and "watchers." Watchers is pretty much just a subscription list, but friends makes me all geeky inside--(caution: Big Bang Theory reference) like Howard Wolowitz proudly introducing his then new girlfriend Bernadette to everyone, "this is my girlfriend, Bernadette."

Who doesn't feel a little touch of joy when they get another watcher, another follower, or another facebook friend (unless it's that guy who was a bully back in High School or that psycho chick you dated a few times--I didn't mean perverted, I meant psycho)?  I try to be cool about it though. Gotta keep things in context. It wouldn't do to look all needy friending people who could care less.

Anyways, within dA, I use the "friend" feature to provide easy access to people who I've had enough of an exchange with that I want quick access for future exchanges, sort of like contacts in a mobile phone--it's not exactly my friend list.

I do have lots of friends on dA though. Chances are that if you are still reading this, you could be a friend. If we exchange notes and comments, you could be a friend. If you read my stories, you could be a friend. If you create cool stories or artwork that I like, you could be a friend. That's the joy of cyberspace. You can suddenly be friends with someone you've never met, from some place you'll never go and never even know their real name. That distancing does something magical though. I can share things and talk about things on cyberspace that even my closest friends and family don't know--or would never approve of. I can openly say how much I love bondage, corsets, latex...well, I did have another journal entry about that, but you get the idea. We can connect here. People can be friend friends here.

True relationships are often defined by the effort involved in maintaining them so I think my real dA friends know who they are. Fact is my little community of friends on dA is important to me. I feel like there is a real relationship there within the context.  My dA friends fill a void and satisfy a need in my life that would otherwise leave me facing certain things alone. I'm not inclined to emotion, but have learned that one should just say how they feel once in a while. So, my friends, thanks for the support, thanks for being there, and thanks for listening.