Chef Gonzo

Although I actively participate in a network of blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, I question whether we are truly creating new communities or merely using one another as commodities. Are the friends and followers I collect truly friends? Or are they just potential customers of my ego, possible readers, or promising hosts for whatever viral meme I want to inject into them? While I may write clever posts about the evils of consumerism, am I really just seeking to create consumers of me? In fact, is this article yet one more example of my own shameless self-promotion? And was that last question just the old marketing trick of admitting one’s minor flaws in order to seem more credible?