Facebook and the Loss of Mystery

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...

So I spend most of my workday with multiple browser tabs and applications open. After all, I now monitor at least 7 different sources of communication (Client Email, Work Email, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, IM, Communicator, Facebook) just on my PC. Inevitably, as my mind draws a blank in the middle of actual work, though, I gravitate towards Facebook to clear my thoughts of anything significant and possibly draw inspiration to get back to work. Somehow, this gateway to status updates has woven its way into the fabric of my being.

How did this happen???? FB is for the mundane. There is that rare moment where some friend actually posts something profound and triggers neurons to fire. I find that I live for those moments where I can give a thumbs up or second a comment somebody posted. That just sounds so wrong! I am now passively waiting for something to latch my opinions against. As if I wasn’t capable of an original thought. Is that really what I am about? But then it hits me – I purposely attach my thoughts against others because by initiating my own, I somehow open myself up to becoming vulnerable. I somehow become party to the loss of mystery that I am now lamenting.

When I first joined FB, I was so excited about the idea of finding long lost friends. I actively sought out friends. Since I go by a pseudonym on FB, I always initiate the call to “friendship”. I collected friends quickly. My first few weeks on FB, friends posted something of perceived value to me. Maybe it’s because most of the folks I “friended” were people that I hadn’t kept in touch with for years and even decades, it was exciting to find out where life took them. But I soon remembered why I didn’t keep in touch. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing voyeur. I scan photos posted by friends. I actually took time to read status updates at one point. But some folks are just plain boring!

I really don’t need a play by play of somebody’s trip to Costco. I also don’t need to know what city a person should be living in. Please – it’s just noise to me! Most of all, I don’t need any hugs and smiles and invitations to causes. Folks – do me a favor, keep a little to yourself.
With the advent of affordable mobile devices, more and more people are posting on FB as events unfold. Although this is such a technical leap, it does get in the way of actual personal interaction. I’ve caught myself on the phone with somebody discussing their recent postings. It’s almost an excuse not to actually have any personal interaction anymore since all I need to do is login into FB to catch up on their lives.

Just a month ago, I attended a 3 day reunion Although it was a blast, I was saddened by the fact that I couldn’t pull my husband aside and whisper, “Man, time has not been kind to that person!” I already saw the degradation play by play and photo by photo on FB.

Oh and I am a hypocrite, btw. I am such an open book. Don’t believe me? Check out my wall