I just got really tired of the pseudo-interaction posing as genuine interaction.
And I got mostly terrified at how addicted I have become to it in the two years since I joined.
Addicted to mediocrity (and 'mediocre' is being generous).
Something, too, that really freaks me out about the whole thing is the fake validation. I post a status update and a bunch of people click 'Like' and somehow this not only makes me feel happy but the more it happens, the more I lust for it. That is insane...unacceptable...bizarre.
Can you imagine if real life was like this?
You are all alone in a room.
You make a statement out loud.
Then you wait.
Suddenly a door opens and someone you may or may not know opens a door to the room you're in, sticks their head in, says something in response to what you just said, then closes the door and leaves.
Sometimes other people that you may or may not know also open doors to the room you're in and say something and then leave, too.
And sometimes no doors open after you made your statement.
But regardless of how many people you may or may not know do or don't open doors to respond to your statement, you ultimately wind up right back where you started: all alone in a room.
You might be thinking but Facebook isn't real life. And that's exactly the point. It is not real life yet a whole of people spend a whole lot of time on Facebook or thinking about being on Facebook. It's so bad that you start thinking in terms of Facebook and that is the ultimate freak out.
Everything that happens to you becomes a potential status update. Yikes.
I don't want my life to turn into 140-character blurbs.
As far as my online life goes, I was far more happy before I had a Facebook account - when I was just someone with a blog. I know I'm supposed to be very concerned about blog comments (i.e. interaction) but the truth is that I never have been overly concerned about getting them and I'm still not (unless they were from my stalker, but that's a story for another time). As someone who could definitely be described as a loner, I blog for me first and foremost, and that's what I like about it. A blog isn't standing in the middle of the room, jumping up and down, shouting "notice me! notice me!" At least not this one.
And by design that's exactly what a Facebook account does do. It turns you into an attention whore on one level or another. It can turn you into a bunch of other things, too, if you're not careful.
Some of my most recent FB
- A "friend" posted about how much she missed her father, who passed recently. My heart went out to her and so I posted a comment for her saying as much. She ignored it. But two hours later was back to posting heavy metal YouTube videos.
- Speaking of heavy metal YouTube videos, why are all my high school FB "friends" constantly posting these? Are you thinking because that's what high school friends do? Really? Even though we graduated three decades ago?
- Another "friend" was posting about the upcoming big party she was having for family and friends. Except none of her FB friends were invited.
- How about the "friend" who turns everything into being about her? This is the opportunistic/narcissistic one who cannot write a comment unless it starts with "I". This is also the same one who never misses the opportunity to count her blessings at the expense of someone else's misfortune. If you're sick, she will comment about how happy she is that she's never had that sickness.
