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April 21, 2006
Liveblog: Covenant Alumni Popularity Contest
Josiah and I have been having such a damn good chuckle over the new Covenant College alumni social networking site, I decided to liveblog the Most Connected and Most Viewed rankings for a while. Since Josiah snuck the news of this thing out of Advancement's secret underground lair underneath the Chapel on Tuesday, the productivity of Covenant alumni everywhere went into freefall. I'm just here to document a slice of it. As Josiah said, it's about notoriety.
Will Andy Montgomery '99 overtake Dave Peterson '94 for the No. 3 most connected? Can Aaron Mesh '04 stay on top of Heather Rantal '02 for the 2nd Most Viewed? Will Justin Johnson '03 continue his surprise push for the most connections? Stay tuned as the drama unfolds over the weekend...
7:13PM 2 Live Crew and David Beckham? I think someone hacked in to Nathan Brinkerhoff '02's account. I'll still accept his offer of friendship.
7:24PM Some movement around the Nos. 5-8 Most Viewed spots. Justin Johnson '03 knocks up 3 more spaces to No. 5, displacing Dan Wykoff '01 to No. 6 and Rachel George '00 to No. 8. Developing...
8:01PM For the record, the top 5 Most Connected are Josiah Roe '03 with 111, Justin Johnson '03 with 97, Andy Montgomery '99 with 73, Dave Peterson '94 with 68, and Heather Rantal '02 with 67.
The top 5 Most Viewed are Josiah Roe '03 with 311, Aaron Mesh '04 with 200, Heather Rantal '02 with 198, Andy Montgomery '99 with 155, and Justin Johnson '03 with 144.
I am not friends with Dave and Heather. Yet.
9:05PM The kitchen dishes are now resting in their washed state. Back at scotsalumni.org, the top 3 Most Connected continue to pull away from the rest of the pack, each gaining three. I have no life. I am No. 11 Most Viewed.
It's probably my wife hitting refresh.
Saturday
1:02AM I just finished two exclusive interviews with No. 1 and No. 2 Most Viewed, Josiah Roe '03 and Aaron Mesh '04. This was possibly related to popping out to Hoppy's, the local pub, for a few pints with them. Mesh, who claims the amazing connection to view ratio of 23:210, attributes his fame thus: "Other people find me intriguing, but I do not find them likewise." Cutting words from a fascinating man. Josiah showed good graces to his challenger for the Most Connected title, noting that he and Johnson have been engaged in an running email conversation about their relatively diverse group of friends. Apparently, the disjunct betwixt their respective supporters looms large. A good thing, I say, for the College's promotion. But will these fond words fend off the cutthroat competition for No. 1? Stay tuned...
10:48AM I resisted the urge to update what effect the night owls on the west coast were having when I turned over in bed at 4AM. But I'm awake now and your morning update is forthcoming.
11:12AM Many Bothans died to bring us this information...
The top three in each category are still unchaged, with Josiah still on his pedal-to-the-metal pace. The biggest gainer in Most Viewed appears to be Andy Montgomery '99, hit up 34 times during the night. On the Most Connected leaders, there's a developing movement for No. 3, again the spot held by Mr. Andy Montgomery '99. He sits with 78 at the spot, while Heather Rantal '02 and Dave Peterson '94 are nipping at his heels with their respective 73 and 72.
Next I'll take a look at the developments amongst the lesser lights on the leader boards, as well as engage in some wanton speculation as to who the most addicted users of this thing are. My analysis may surprise you...
3:25PM Okay, I confess, I don't have any wanton rumors or wild innuendo to spread about the level of addiction to this thing. Just trying to build suspense from update to update.
What I would like to do, though, is provide a space in the comment section for you to make a clean breast of any guilt that you may have in regards to scotsalumni.org. Are you compulsively checking to see if a certain enemy has signed up? Have you arranged your browser windows so that you can see the new logins as they enter? are you spamming the entire alumni group with invitations to your obscure special interest group? This is a safe, loving, caring place for you. This is not a place to bluster, but to fall on your knees and cry. I can't remember any more Donovan Graham quotes, but you get the idea. I await your confession with ready understanding and forgiveness.
3:35PM I would also like to note the presence of my wife, Elissa Weichbrodt '04, at No. 17 Most Connected. And that I am currently beating Rebekah Foreman '04 by almost 30 views for No. 12 Most Viewed.
6:34PM Three big developments to note. First, Andy Montgomery '99 finally succombed to the connection machine that is Heather Rantal '02, giving her the No. 3 most connected position. Heather's march is looking pretty serious, and although she has not extended the offer of friendshipt to your humble author, I do expect that she will make a strong challenge to Messeurs Josiah Roe '03 and Justin Johnson '03.
Second, two big gainers made their mark today. Rachel Wantanabe '04 has been steadily marching up the connections list. This morning she cracked the top ten, and she currently sits at No. 7. The other noteworthy nobleman is the upstanding Nathan Brinkerhoff '02, who has moved No. 7 most viewed. Nasty as he wants to be...
Sunday
12:34AM The top 25 Most Connected welcomes Katie McClellan '01 and Currie Bishop '02. I'm not sure who dropped off to make space for them, but they're in at No. 22 and No. 18 conversely. Justin Johnson '03 is beginning to leverage his connections to rise in the Most Viewed rankings, currently at No. 3 and within 9 views of Aaron Mesh '04. If anyone cares, I moved up a notch to No. 12. I have no idea why. I feel like the prettiest girl at the dance. More updates tomorrow. The dead horse is not yet beat. Goodnight.
9:26PM Justin reported this afternoon that the site is down. As a side note, I don't know what to call this thing, so I either refer to it with vague nouns and pronouns (eg "the site" or "it"), or by the URL (eg scotsalumni.org). Does anyone have a servicable name for this thing? Covenant College InCircle Social Network Portal does not count.
Continuing off point, I obviously had more important things to do this afternoon than check the site or blog about it. Like reading _Rolling Stone_ and watching the afternoon MLS match (FC Dallas v Kansas City Crew. Two goals in extra time. Dallas pulls out the home win and remains undefeated, playing laudable style).
I just checked, and the site is up right now. You may continue your obsessing.
Monday
8:16PM Well, now that the "I'm Having Amazing Sex Now That I'm Married" group has been summarily banned, I'm calling it a blight. Erm, night.
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Comments
Damn. First Dr. Davis spends all philosophy classes telling Josiah Roe stories. So I flee Covenant and what do I find? Josiah Roe linked to every stinking graduate's weblog. Now he's the most viewed alum on the network. Somewhere, somehow life just isn't fair.
Is there something to the claim that philosophers are the best suited to ruling the world?
I think I'll go look at Mesh's profile a couple hundred times real quick.
Posted by: funke at April 21, 2006 08:18 PM
I find this entire thing just absolutely hilarious & and absurd, absurdly hilarious, and hilariously absurd.
Should I "lose" the #1 spots, I can think of no more appropriate people than Justin Johson and my dear friend Mesh.
Philosphers suited to rule the world? I'm no philosopher. At all. I'm just loud.
Posted by: JosiahQ at April 21, 2006 08:45 PM
Sarah, Josiah is quickly becoming the Tom of scotsalumni.org. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
That said, weren't you a Philo major too? I for one welcome our new thoughtful and considered overlords.
Also, you need to hit Mesh a few more times, I don't think you've made a dent yet in the rankings.
Josiah, the meek shall inherit the earth. Notoriety and puppetry are the charlatan's cheap tricks.
Embrace the inbreeding.
Posted by: Noel at April 22, 2006 01:08 AM
I'm having the most fun since we swapped the chairs in the chapel for the tables in the Great Hall!
But seriously, I don't think I have a chance of catching Josiah, but that has become my life goal. Josiah needs someone breathing down his neck, and since Scott Raymond left, we have to find little ways of doing it! I love this guy!
Posted by: justin at April 22, 2006 01:25 AM
Yes, I was a philo major, too, but apparently scotsalum doesn't feel that such is a significant part of my life to mention. Apparently my phone number and marital status are the only key factors in "networking" me with other alum because obviously the "Marriage Mill on the Hill" didn't work the first time around...
I would like to thank Linnea Minich for pointing out the secret e-harmony agenda behind InCircle masked by various codewords such as "getting in touch" and "keeping up." What ever happened to good, old-fashioned "hanging out"?
Josiah Roe, I bear you no ill-will for your ill-gotten popularity. This post just made my Friday night.
Sheesh. Maybe I do need scotsalumi "help" if I am getting all my entertainment from online popularity contests.
Anyhow, keep us updated on the winners. You can't suck us into picking and rooting for our favorites and then end the race!
:)
Posted by: funke at April 22, 2006 08:56 AM
"ill-gotten" what the hell are you talking about?
Posted by: JosiahQ at April 22, 2006 09:09 AM
I guess I didn't know I was competing for something... but I suppose the stats page could do nothing other than stoke the natural fires of competition. I will admit to padding Mesh's stats by making him my home page - as I feel that either Josiah's stats are high because he's narcisitically viewing own page or perhaps he truly is too cool.
Since I'm part of an "older guard" this new site has been a great tool to find other 30-something friends, especially since the last Covenant Alumni tool was well... what is was.
Posted by: stelmodad at April 22, 2006 09:32 AM
you can't boost your ranking by looking at your own page
Posted by: JosiahQ at April 22, 2006 11:56 AM
I am very discouraged about the results of the popularity contest. I was certain that Mark David Chapman would win hands down. He is the only Covenant alumni mentioned by name on Wikipedia. I guess, you guys don't go that far back into Covenant history.
M. Bootles
Posted by: Mr. Bootles at April 22, 2006 12:45 PM
Mark David Chapman dropped out...does he count as an alumnus?
Posted by: funke at April 22, 2006 12:47 PM
I could see this thing being cool if I lived in the middle of montana or something, but being here in chatty, it seems like the last thing I need is MORE connections to covenant alum. :-)
Posted by: bobw at April 22, 2006 01:19 PM
Josiah, your last comment implies that you checked. Which implies that you had the question in the first place. I leave the final assertion in the syllogism up to the readers.
Posted by: Noel at April 22, 2006 03:23 PM
Inquiring minds and all that Noel? Just because one wonders if they can doesn't imply that they will. You're not going all Big Brother on us now, are you?
I'm guilty of checking this thing several times a day.
Posted by: JosiahQ at April 22, 2006 05:16 PM
Thanks for your confession. Big Brother, not so much. More like brother grasping for material to fill the liveblog.
Funke, let me reiterate my appreciation for your wit. MDC counts as alumnus under the last iteration of the qualifications that I heard from Advancement. Also, don't feel too glum: my ICS major wasn't noteworthy enough (or supported by the software) to merit note.
JJ, you do your thing. It's all love.
Posted by: Noel at April 23, 2006 12:42 AM
Aww...Noel, just as soon as I can get back on the network, I'm friending you and your wife. Flattery will win you friends anywhere.
Posted by: funke at April 23, 2006 11:39 AM
Is it just me or is scotsalumni.org down? Have too many friends been made? Did a few computer geeks realize that they wouldn't be able to climb the social ladder and thus decided to crash the whole site? Noel, I need your intrepid reporting!! What is going on??? How can I feed my addiction?
Posted by: justin at April 23, 2006 02:58 PM
man, stinking thing was down today. Ticked me off. Man, B-Ha is really climbing in the rankings! I love that guy.
Posted by: JosiahQ at April 23, 2006 10:28 PM
I am not-so-privately calling the site CovFace...
Or...the Facebook for alum who got kicked off the Covenant server and don't have a school email account any more.
Posted by: funke at April 24, 2006 12:30 AM
Sarah, thanks for considering me ontologically one with Noel and extending the olive branch of friendship. Mooching off one's spouse's popularity with philosophical justification is among marriage's perks.
Posted by: elissa at April 24, 2006 08:37 AM
No problem, Elissa. I mean, what else did I get from Metaphysics? (Besides my very own copy of Timeline, at any rate?)
Posted by: funke at April 24, 2006 08:48 AM
I'm not even getting my own copy of Timeline.
Posted by: casselberry at April 24, 2006 11:27 AM