My friend Andrew Hyde and I had breakfast this morning, and as it often does, our conversation circled around to blog posts we had either read or written the previous week.

“Did you read my posts where I am trying to give tribute to people that inspire me?” I said.

“They confused me,” Andrew replied. “I suggest you add a blurb about what they are and whom they are for.”

So I did.

“Did you read my post about High Fives and Finger Pointing?” He asked.

“I did,” I mumbled between bites. “It needs more exploration.”

So, Im picking up the story.

We discussed the necessity for social media to have villains and heroes.  It seems that many people in the social media sphere have made careers in one of three roles.

The Villain: A person that tends to have the contrary view. Who is unafraid to be anti-establishment. Who really seems to not care what others think of their positions.

The Hero: The person that never says a bad word without provocation. That when they say “you have done a bad thing,” the social media world gasps and nods their heads.

The General Populace: The rest of the social media world. These people tend to side with the Heroes or Villains, sometimes switching back and forth. They are the ones that spend their time either just interacting with other members of the General Populace, or strive to be a Hero or Villain.

Its interesting how much the social media world, with its emphasis on openness, is slowly morphing into a skewed version of the real world, where people who have limited influence in their daily life can hold sway from the simple typing of a blog post.

Dont believe me?

Go into FriendFeed. See the people that get tons of comments and likes.

Ask any one of them to change a public policy.

Ask any one of them to make a fundamental difference in todays world. 

But, ask them to complain about a company online, or tout the actions of another. Then, without a doubt, things happen.

The online social media world is just a story that we are all writing. It shifts and changes as the characters shift and change. It grows as the people within it make new story lines.

And, like any good story, without Villains and Heroes, it simply ends.

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