Saturday, September 24, 2011

Slowly put down the Facebook, and back away...

There comes a time when people have had enough.  For some, the build-up is gradual, starting out as accepting, tolerant, even happy about change, but then becoming more disillusioned with the pace and/or type of change.  For others, the reaction is almost instantaneous, and they pull the rip cord early, not wanting to be a part of what follows.  Friends...after 5+ years together, I am bugging out on Facebook. 

It's been great finding some old friends, keeping up with new ones, and it's been awkward watching events unfold in the lives of some.  But it's not new anymore, and people don't have the same enthusiasm that they once did.  I can't think of the last time I was invited to an event sent out by friends that *wasn't* a craft fair, promotional nightclub party, or social justice event.  I don't need to get into how I feel about invites to Farmville or Bejeweled.  And I'm tired of being told by companies to "Like" something or join them on Facebook for special deals.

People are just making shit up, forming groups, and others are joining because they are amused by the name, such as this group:

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." — Marilyn Monroe

People don't interact here.  They just like the page title.   

Facebook has undergone likely dozens of iterations in the last five years that I've been on it (to say nothing of those who have been on since 2004), and it seems that the changes they are constantly making are creating a type of superficial social interaction at best.  "So-and-so likes Lamp."  And then we all as friends decide...do we "like" their post?  Do we comment, "LOL, nice"?  And that's what qualifies as "keeping up with friends" in the Facebook universe?

Does anyone remember when you actually had to write a status update, and people wrote back on your wall?  How often these days do we even visit the walls of our friends?  We just see what goes on in our feeds.

With the latest round of updates that Facebook has done, we know have a little sidebar telling us what our friends are doing, right beside the live feed which tells us what our friends have been doing.  We have reached a stage where we have a Facebook on our Facebook page.

The dozens of iterations have me thinking that the nice people at Facebook have short attention spans, and they seem intent on creating a space that encourages it as well.  I liked some of the early changes, but lately, it's just become such a big drama.  Privacy this, security that, picture-viewers, blah blah blah...


I'm taking my business to Twitter.

2 Comments:

At 1:02 PM, Blogger sudobeer said...

google+

 
At 1:29 AM, Anonymous jette16 said...

Just don't forget to use an old method of communication such as email or, I don't know, phone, once in a while :) I won't be joining you on Twitter so please let me know when you come to Vancouver!

 

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