Technorati and the meaning of life

Okay...I know this is going to sound waaaaay far fetched, but hear me out.

First, how I came to this conclusion:

Step 1. The slowness of the update of my Technorati ranking (according to Niall, it only updates once per week, but I'm sure that it's been longer for me) and the fact that this is distressing me...well...distresses me. (Tom Raftery asked me which Web 2.0 tool I couldn't live without...turns out it's Technorati)

Step 2. Chris and I had our first 'heated discussion' - about the 'meaning of life'. Strange. We realized that we both were saying the same damned thing after an hour of getting quite huffy with one another. Chris: "2+2=4" Tara: "1+3=4" grrrrrrrrrrr. At least we argue about the meaning of life rather than mundane things like what we're going to do Friday night. Either way, the discussion started me really thinking about, well, the meaning of life. (and we totally made up btw)

Step 3. My Starbucks coffee cup spoke to me [pictured above]. Sure, perhaps it was laced with something, but as I walked from the caltrain to my office, my head was spinning with this idea.

So...here it goes:

Now, see, I'm not 'religious' in the traditional sense. I don't believe there is one way to live or one higher being or one trajectory for each of us. I do believe in fate. I do believe there is a purpose to being here. I have no clue as to what that is. I don't think I want to know. I just am...I figure it will work itself out in the end.

In our geek cultured online living way, Technorati is our tool to search for the meaning of life...for the sense in our own existence. The blogosphere is our day to day - where we publish our voices and theorize. Our blogs are our 'pulpits', our posts are our 'sermons'. But here's the clincher, our 'congregation' - if you will - or those who read our blogs are also usually bloggers. They have their own pulpits and sermons and congregations (sometimes we are both the congregation and the 'preacher'). Totally decentralized religion.

The blogosphere has beliefs...many of them. Niches of beliefs. We disagree strongly and often. There are snippets of theology everywhere. What Web 2.0 is. What it is not. Is Google evil? Is Google our savior? Is Microsoft evil? Do we love Scoble in spite of it or because of it? Why do we continue to read Winer (lol, I do because he is so damned easy to read)? Does anyone really 'read' or do they scan now? Etc. etc.

So, it doesn't sound very deep. But there are 'deep' moments. And those moments are shaping our futures. There are no monolithic ideals or meanings that can string the blogosphere together. Totally decentralized theology. It seems to be a true collaborative quest without one single answer where we can meet up.

Religious institutions have always been held together by community and that community has gathering places. Could you imagine a community meeting place of bloggers from all different backgrounds and theories? Egad, it would be a dogpit of glowing blue screens. Backchannels would be heating up. Power strips would be overloaded. The bloggers wouldn't agree amongst themselves, let alone the vloggers and the podcasters. Egad, what a mess it would be. Forget the potlucks! Remember when Mena asked for civility? Yikes.

Ah...but we do have a temple. That temple is Technorati. We go there to find out how far we've gotten in our quest (ranking). We build our community and connect with others (tag search). We can seek the highest prophets to listen to (Technorati 100). We can gather our flock (ego search). We can go on that quest for the holy grail (explore).

And sure, there are other blog searches, but very few that actually pull together all of the answers we seek. Technorati doesn't just help us with ego searches, it helps us seek our raison d'etre...and the more you get into it, the more you visit that 'temple'.

So, when Technorati doesn't update for a week and a half, I'm a little lost. I have to seek my faith inside. I am blogging because it feels right, I'm working towards a greater good (in my case, it's to subvert traditional power structures and hierarchies in the world), to create a historical document and to continue to connect with others (even when I lose track). I have faith.

(but dammit...don't make me suffer long!)

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Okay, so I said it would sound far fetched and it is...but, remember, this was partially inspired by reading philosophy from the side of a paper cup...;) Go ahead and tell me I've lost it in the comments...

technorati tags: farfetched, technorati, religion, blogosphere, faith