How I Feel About Facebook

Warning: This post is going to be a bit snarky.  Please don’t take offense.  

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Let me begin by admitting that I use Facebook daily.  I’m not a big phone person and I currently live in the boonies, so I like being able to share in Facebook’s Buffet of Amenities.  Besides, the initial idea behind Facebook is nothing short of stupendous.  You get to keep in touch with friends and family, reconnect with old acquaintances, and publicize businesses and events – for free.  Convenient, huh?  

(Minus the frequent frustration of trying to navigate whatever the Facebook staff recently “fixed.”  What?  I can’t use my FB email anymore because it’s set up like a chat box?  Ho hum, what a BRIGHT idea.)

I’m sure I’ll find Facebook even more useful after I move to Denmark and am farther away from the people I love best.

That being said, I think the whole thing has been a bit too used and abused.

In a nutshell, Facebook is a superb way to waste excessive amounts of time, gossip with the best of ‘em, post photos that should probably be kept private, display a grand total of ten million friends like the trophies they are (many of whom, in fact, are complete strangers), and keep that old wall updated with every minuscule detail of daily life.  

In fact, it has made our small world so much smaller that nothing is private any longer.  We’ve got an entire website dedicated to publicizing things that were never meant to be public – you name it, it’s there. 

Someone recently said that Facebook is essentially a forum for high school drama, only in this case it also caters to adults.

DISLIKE.

(One would think, what with the sickening popularity of the “like” button, they would’ve created a “dislike” button by now.)

And to finish off my rant, let me just ask …. who began the recent trend of writing down a list of ingredients and posting it as a status update?  I’d like to thank you with a nice knuckle sandwich.

As much as I love reading about every little thing you had for breakfast this morning, I can't help but ask: what type of response could you possibly hope to solicit by this fascinating information?  Wow you must be superman; you put broccoli in your fruit 'n yogurt smoothie. 

Pardon me while I go toss up my breakfast.

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Someone once posted a status that coins exactly how I feel about this (assuming he meant it sarcastically; if he meant it any other way then it steps on my point): I am now eating a bowl of fruit.

…

Perhaps I should start doing this every ten minutes:  I am now having coffee.   I am now walking across the room.  I just blinked.  Etc. 

Nevermind.  Chances are people would assume that I’m just another Facebook junkie and miss my point entirely.

It puts me in mind of a movie I watched awhile back – can’t remember what or when, exactly, but the line that stuck with me went something like this: Why does your generation feel compelled to document every little thing it does? 

And by that, I do believe they meant: NOBODY CARES.

And also: some things are better left unsaid.  

… Possibly even this post.

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