Sunday, March 22, 2009

Opium of the People

It seems that everywhere you go you hear people complaining about the new facebook layout. It just got me thinking. How many of us are on that "social networking site"? 175 million it turns out. that's a hell of a lot of people banding together to "socialize". And what do the majority of these people do? 
Honestly, by the looks of it all people do is take stupid quiz after another, Tag pictures of cartoon thingies as people, tag people to do things like list silly facts or their itunes playlist, play with applications like that damn zombie thing, and add friends. Apparently this is what socializing is today. 
Gone are the days where one would call or even text for someones birthday. Actually forget that, now one doesn't need to remember someones birthday. Facebook is kind enough to tell us that a birthday is approaching (Would you like to send them a free gift?).
True its a great leap forward towards making the world a smaller place and all that jazz but in making the world a smaller place we have subconsciously, it seems, made our circles of true friends even smaller. 
I say true friends because unlike in the Internet world where you can have a gajabillion friends on friendster, facebook, myspace. In the real world, the one that many actually see less of, theres a very fine but distinct line separating ones friends from acquaintances. Sure you have 800 facebook friends but a click on your part and one on his/her part isn't really all that hard. I mean seriously. Think. Of all those in your friend list, how many have you socialised with in the past month?
True I'm a member of facebook. I too am part of this social phenomenon. But lets face it, in today's day and age the question "Whats your email address?" or "Whats your number?" is oft replaced with a simple "Your on facebook yea? Ahh ok, ill find you then" and if you say "No I'm not on facebook" the questioners face will, without fail, distort itself beyond recognition leaving you looking at that hideous mass of mush while waiting for the inevitable

"What?!...but...er..why?"

7 comments:

Alia Nadhirah said...

i can't help but agree with your opinion here:)

yes, people have lost personal touch. Which is what matters most these days.

::phoenixnoir:: said...

It's the subliminal messages getting to us. Technology is killing us and our humanity. It's nice that some people actually realise.
Well, at least some of us miss the personal 'human touch' in communication. :p

Iman. said...

ok sir/mister/boy/guy/man. you said i never comment?!?! wel, here's your comment! here. and here. and here. and here. and here! and here.


so THERE!

you are a mean person and i hope gay guy comments on your fb more often.

Shaahima said...

*gasp* Copyright!!

GossipGuy said...

People are quick to attack Facebook while forgetting that, for the likes of us, Facebook is imperative to staying in touch across the vast oceans and continents that separate us.

Anonymous said...

While I dont deny the fact that facebook has indeed made it easier to communicate my point is that this ease led many of us to communicate merely for the sake of communication. Wouldnt it mean more to the recipient knowing that the sender had to actually make an effort to correspond? Doesnt a text or even an email seem more heartfelt?

Y said...

if facebook were a country its population would be like that of japan's. and it would have the sixth largest population in the world.

facebook is my crack.