As i log onto Facebook for the seventh time today i wonder why i am so obsessed with it. I guess i am still trying to figure it all out. I am not so sure my obsession comes more from morbid facination with the whole aspect of social networking or that i basically have no life. I think it is the latter...I also realize that i need to hook myself into what is current so i don't end up like my mom who thinks the word processor is the equivalent of today's IBook.
My problem is that even after about a year of navigating my way around Facebook, i am still not sure if i buy into it as a way of connecting with people. Sure i have found old friends, school mates and coworkers through Facebook but how much do i really care about what they are doing every second of the day? Do i care that a relative is planning on dying her hair and wants advice from her "peeps" about brunette or blond? Or the former coworker who thinks there is a real life right wing conspiracy going on in his backyard, a coworker who is ranting about the suckiness of his job, or has posted "whateva" on his wall for the last month.
On top of all this, is the realization that they don't really give a rats behind about my day either, They don't want to know what color socks i am wearing, the fact that i am drinking wine or coffee or that i just had a pop tart for breakfast.... ya no. So why do i even post? Maybe it gives me some kind of gratification that i am actually doing something even if it is lame, and by golly everybody should know about it too!
Facebook is pretty self absorbed if you ask me. Am i the only person that thinks its wierd to be able to troll through everybodies wall or picture gallery with wild abandon. I have to admit it is almost like a guilty pleasure. It kind of gives me a bit of a rush, almost like a voyeuristic pervert peeking into somebody else's bedroom. But it is also kind of creepy and a bit sad don't you think? I can see into your life but I never really have to make any kind of connection. I am not so sure if this is such a healthy passtime for any adult. I have to ask myself after several hours of spacing out on strange pictures or reading random posts "do i have a life or not?" I peel myself away from the computer screen and realize that the sun has gone down and i am still in my pajamas.
Then after it's all said and done, i feel a bit sad and loney and not so connected to anybody at all, just the monitor. My theory is facebook disconnects people from each other and reality. It is lame.
While everybody seems to have alot of "friends" nobody cares about anybody but themselves. It is pretty narcisstic, posting about your every bowel movement or change of underwear to the world. Who cares? I could be totally wrong but that is my theory and I am sticking to it.
While i survey other peoples posts i note how many friends they have "accumulated." This becomes a competition in itself. I call it adding potatoes to my sack. My sack currently only has 151 potatoes in it, while my sister has over 200. I need more potatoes! Who cares if i ever speak to one! I still need to have the prescribed amount or fear having a big old L posted on my forehead. Bad enough to not connect to 2 potatoes, you need to have at least 300 so it at least looks like you are a social butterfly while you post about that underwear change to the world.
"Oh poor Brooke, she only has 15 friends, tisk tisk." It really is kind of lame when you think about it. Why can one person have 300 potatoes and another 13?
Facebook is LAME.
No comments:
Post a Comment