After graduating in May, I did something I vowed I would never do and gave into the whole Facebook thing. I vowed I would never do it because (a) it seems like a perfect time-waster, and I am nothing if not the world’s most dedicated procrastinator; (b) I hated the idea that pictures of me could be posted for the world to see without my control (I have a very strict post-no-pictures-of-me-in-a-swimsuit-lest-you-achieve-the-immediate-dissolution-of-our-friendship rule, still in effect!); (c) I make everything into a competition, and I could see myself desperately trying to amass as many friends as possible in order to WIN!; and (the craziest reason) (d) there are some people in the world who I do not want to know that I even still exist…
It turns out that I was perfectly right to be concerned about (a), I fear that I might just have to get used to (b) in our day and age (though, that swimsuit rule still applies, people!), I was embarrassingly right about (c), and I have more control over (d) than I realized (namely, I need to simmer down).
But! I never realized the reason that is perhaps the only legitimate excuse to be wary of social media, namely, that there is nothing truly social about it. I know I’m not the first to lobby such a complaint, but it seems to me that this form of communication is inherently isolating. We sit behind computer screens and invent personas that we deem safe enough to reveal to the general public, and then we reveal them slowly and with calculation…
Meanwhile, there are lives to be lived! People to interact with! Things to be experienced!
Meh. Maybe another day…
3 responses so far ↓
heymissblog // October 20, 2009 at 11:25 am |
i deleted facebook. about 2 months ago. well, i deactivated it. you can’t delete it, did you know that? anyways i like not having it. makes life more real and makes me feel like more of an adult. i keep in touch with the people i want to keep in touch with, not the people it’s oh-so-easy to keep in touch with. phone calls and text messages i receive are always of the random “thinking of your” sort and not the “i just saw your facebook status” sort. i like it.
Scott // October 20, 2009 at 3:36 pm |
The most dangerous thing about it for me is it can make you feel like you are “keeping in touch” with people, without actually doing it. Granted, for some long lost friends this is fine – but when it comes to the people you really care about, it’s disturbing.
So did you get my friend request?
theklines // October 23, 2009 at 11:14 am |
Scott, you’re great. And I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with this description. My friends from PTS said that this was the best way to “keep in touch” with them, but I don’t feel that way at all. I want phone calls and emails and substantive updates on their lives!