a social network
feels like it’s been a while since i talked. with it being a new year and all, thought i’d give it another go.
what is it that compels us to need to know everything about each other all the time? we have 24-hour news stations to keep us current (to the minute, practically) on world happenings as well as a constant flow of social updates via facebook and twitter so we know what is going on in our friends’ lives. don’t get me wrong, i am a huge fan of stalking people in order to get to know them but being ambushed by information everytime i log on is not really what i signed up for. in fact, a lot of times i’m told things i don’t want to know about. i don’t need to hear about how happy you are with your new girlfriend or how amazing your most recent accomplishment is—share that news with people that care. to be frank, it makes the idea of social networks less appealing as a whole (imo, at least).
in addition, privacy is practically non-existant nowadays. my conversations with other people are broadcasted to everyone in my feed and my weekend escapades also available for public viewing. i mean, i guess everything is consensual but that doesn’t make it any less exasperating. after all, should it really be okay that all that information about you is out there for everyone to see? even with new “privacy features” available, you know people can get around that shit (present company included—hey, i said i like stalking). or maybe some people don’t care about keeping that stuff to themselves. in fact, i think there are a fair amount of people that actually like showing off certain aspects of their life to the world in such vivid detail. well go to hell. while i use social networks because i want to keep in touch, it’s definitely irksome to hear about how happy some people are when i am unhappy. or maybe it’s just something else; i mean, i like to keep a lot of things to myself or between a few other people. it’s not that i don’t like to share things, but i think facebook features have kind of snowballed out of control. because c’mon.. “liking” someone’s “comment” on a “wall post”? really?
don’t get me wrong, social networking is a great idea and i love the up-to-the-minute news that twitter provides me with but on a lot of other fronts, i think enough is enough. in the last few months i’ve become a bit of a recluse but i think that’s because too much of me has been public for so long and i’m tired of it. if you want to know my business, all you gotta do is ask.
ugh did i really just make my first original post of 2012 a rant? good going, shannon.
1 year ago
