Baby, It's Only Going to Get Smaller.
Many, many moons ago, when having a home computer was a sure sign you were a nerd and the internet was every nerd's wet dream, I had very few friends. There were many reasons for this. For one, I was only in high school, so my social circle wasn't really all too big to begin with. And then there's the fact I was even more socially awkward back then than I am now. Also, I found 16-bit video games (I'm looking at you Sonic the Hedgehog) more mentally engaging than most the the other kids I knew. Lastly, the few friends I had were more than enough for me.
Friends back then were more than status updates and event invites; they were people I actually talked to on a regular basis. And I mean real conversations too! Not to say that's completely missing in my life now, but it definitely seems to be disappearing. Which seems completely contradictory to how things should be.
When I was in high school, you called someone or you wrote them a letter (most often I think we just tried to call). It was almost like effort had to be put into the relationship. And then along came email, which seems like it would've made keeping in touch easier and therefor more frequent, but it was the opposite that happened. I quit calling people thinking I could just email them later (and forget writing actual letters; why waste the paper (and by "paper", I mean "effort")). And then came Facebook (I actually did Myspace first, but like most people I'm pretty ashamed to admit that), which seemed like a God-send. I'd have one space for all my friends where I could say hello and catch up and share photos and so on and so on. And yet that rarely happens. In fact, the people I talk to the most on here are the ones I tend to talk to (at least somewhat) frequently in real life. Which has me thinking maybe it's time for some Facebook clean up.
Originally I was thinking of just deleting my Facebook, but I know myself well enough to know I'd just make a new one in a couple weeks. So instead I'm going to start deleting people. Well, I can't say "start" as before writing this I got rid of a couple dozen and then realized I should at least say something first (and it's not my fault if people don't read my notes), so let's say I'll resume.
I know there's reasons to keep all those "friends", whether it's for social/political/prove-my-popularity or whatever, but I don't really care anymore. I want to be interested in every status update that flashes on my screen, not trying to scroll through them all looking for the ones that matter (and I know I can "ignore" people while keeping them as friends, but then what's the point?).
So the criteria of keeping or deleting people (obviously family automatically stays in): If I can imagine us having a beer and/or coffee together one day, I probably won't delete you. But if you're on there because we merely worked together at some point or we met at some crazy party and just happened to exchange profiles and the only reason I know your first or last name is because it's listed on your profile, then does it really even matter if we can keep tabs on one another's life? And if for some reason you think I'm so interesting that you want to keep in contact, you can always email me. And you should probably also get your head examined.
Friends back then were more than status updates and event invites; they were people I actually talked to on a regular basis. And I mean real conversations too! Not to say that's completely missing in my life now, but it definitely seems to be disappearing. Which seems completely contradictory to how things should be.
When I was in high school, you called someone or you wrote them a letter (most often I think we just tried to call). It was almost like effort had to be put into the relationship. And then along came email, which seems like it would've made keeping in touch easier and therefor more frequent, but it was the opposite that happened. I quit calling people thinking I could just email them later (and forget writing actual letters; why waste the paper (and by "paper", I mean "effort")). And then came Facebook (I actually did Myspace first, but like most people I'm pretty ashamed to admit that), which seemed like a God-send. I'd have one space for all my friends where I could say hello and catch up and share photos and so on and so on. And yet that rarely happens. In fact, the people I talk to the most on here are the ones I tend to talk to (at least somewhat) frequently in real life. Which has me thinking maybe it's time for some Facebook clean up.
Originally I was thinking of just deleting my Facebook, but I know myself well enough to know I'd just make a new one in a couple weeks. So instead I'm going to start deleting people. Well, I can't say "start" as before writing this I got rid of a couple dozen and then realized I should at least say something first (and it's not my fault if people don't read my notes), so let's say I'll resume.
I know there's reasons to keep all those "friends", whether it's for social/political/prove-my-popularity or whatever, but I don't really care anymore. I want to be interested in every status update that flashes on my screen, not trying to scroll through them all looking for the ones that matter (and I know I can "ignore" people while keeping them as friends, but then what's the point?).
So the criteria of keeping or deleting people (obviously family automatically stays in): If I can imagine us having a beer and/or coffee together one day, I probably won't delete you. But if you're on there because we merely worked together at some point or we met at some crazy party and just happened to exchange profiles and the only reason I know your first or last name is because it's listed on your profile, then does it really even matter if we can keep tabs on one another's life? And if for some reason you think I'm so interesting that you want to keep in contact, you can always email me. And you should probably also get your head examined.
posted by Paul | 11:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home