Jr. High All Over Again

After a fun exchange of messages with a friend of mine, I jokingly promoted his placement in my "Top Friends" myspace area. And that got me to thinking and analyzing and wondering about this "Top Friends" myspace option and how many friendships have been effected by it.

Think about it, Myspace gives you the option to rank your friends; to put them in a placement of importance based on what your criteria is. That could be how close you are with them, how long you've known them, family relationship, age, the date that they were added to your friends list....the criteria options really are endless.

What's disturbing about this is that you can watch your own placement move around based on the new friends that are added to someone else's friends list. Yes, I am speaking from experience...I notice these things; not only with my placement but with others as well. Sometimes you're moved up...sometimes your moved down. Sometimes, you're moved entirely off the "Top Friends" page.

Now, as an adult...I can shrug these things off. Good gracious, there are sooo many more important things to worry about than where you are on your buddy's Myspace page. In fact, even typing that sentence makes me feel like I'm 13 again. Which is where I'm going with this. Seeing that Myspace is huge with the younger kids, I wonder how many relationships have been altered or effected by this public display of "I like you more than her, but not more than him." Talk about a self-esteem crusher! I remember what it was like to be young and to worry about nonsense like this. And that was back when your pecking order wasn't on display for the world to see!

I can't imagine being a young 13 year old girl today. For as cool as Myspace is as a tool to keep people connected, it's also just another way to proclaim whose click you belong to and the pecking order therein. I don't think I ever realized this until I moved my friend around and got to thinking about it all. And that really got me to realizing how damaging it could be to the self esteem of so many young ladies in this superficial country that we live in today.

Not that this theme of favoritism should be surprising, really. We live in country filled with people who cast their weekly vote for their favorite singer/dancer/comedian. We even have cell phones with a top 5 friends list. It just seems like more and more things are falling into the realm of rankings....and most of those for the public to see.

I admit, my top friends are there and ranked accordingly for a reason. I guess that makes me just as guilty as the next person for putting them in any order at all. And even though I based my top friends on who I check in with/on most often, it's still a very strange concept to embrace. I guess I just find it all a bit funny and sad and thought provoking at the same time.

So, for the record, I gathered my "top friends" and thought that I'd share a little about each of them....

• Planedoctor: That very ugly woman would happen to be my very handsome husband. He is the love of my life...even if he never logs in to his Myspace account. At the end of the day, he is all that I ever dreamed of in a husband and father.


• Raquel: This is my best friend of 22 years. She is so awesome. She has a contagious laugh and smile and a heart of gold. We have shared a lot through life...births, deaths and everything in between. And even though we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like to, I know that we'll be friends to the grave.


• Krissy: She is another friend that I will have for life. One of my very best buds. She has witnessed the birth of two of my boys and I love her dearly...probably more than she knows. Mostly, I miss her and all the fun stuff we use to do together, like painting and crafts and conversation over coffee and visiting new house models and watching our kids play and grow together.


• Alfredo: He's my hot online sancho. ;-) We match wits quite well.


• Justin: My dear brother in law whom I love deeply. He reminds me of a big teddy bear. He can look intimidating and put up a good front, but I know his heart...and it's a very sweet one.


• Dave: My other brother-in-law whom I also love to pieces. He is very outgoing and personable and very fun to hang out with. It's always a good time when we're together. Gotta love family.


• Caryn: This is my workout buddy....my Pflugerville friend...my margarita matey. She kicks my ass at the gym and keeps me laughing with her personality. Our boys are rock stars on the baseball diamond and get along really well together. I'm sure that they will be buds throughout their school years....and she'll still be kicking my ass at the gym.

Anyway, I was just pondering this subject and thought that it was interesting food for thought.