Tuesday, March 24, 2009

f***booked.

Excuse the rant, but I recently signed on to facebook and it's freaking the hell out of me.

There are some good points for it - I have made some long lost connections that brighten my heart, and some of the ever-present list-tag thingies have made me think about stuff that interest me from different angles. It's also giving me some satisfaction in my hermit lifestyle, in being a tiny bit connected with friends that I just don't get around to actively making the effort to spend an evening with in the flesh.

That ain't enough. Especially for the younger generation.

I fear there is no going back - human relationships can now be crunched down to witty one-liners typed quickly and instantly disposed of. While it may make one feel that there is a connection (after all, some connection has got to be better than no connection), it's lulling us to sleep. Now, life seems to be not much more than just staring at an ever evolving and shrinking piece of technology that we buy and keep re-buying to have the most, in the smallest format possible.

Life's too short to avoid real human contact with people you like and love. I will probably stick with facebook for a while (my next post will deal with one of those list thingies) but I will do my best to change some bad habits. I think much more of my friends than what facebook can ever offer. I will make an effort.

3 comments:

2fs said...

For me, at least, it's certainly no substitute for actual relationships - it's a supplement to them. The sad fact is that a lot of people I know live nowhere near us...and we don't exactly have an unlimited travel budget. So online contact, of whatever form, is the best we can do until we can actually get together.

Gil said...

Yeah..I was indeed ranting...It is certainly better than no contact, and I find value being in touch with folks that are far away, or not so far away...I guess I'm just feel very OLD school lately.

Anonymous said...

George,

The reason you feel old lately is because you are. Being the same age I think I can assure you with some certainty that we circle nearer the drain with each pass. It is good to be able talk back and forth without waiting on the mail or a $30 phone call. Nothing replaces face to face. I look forward to our next visit. We can talk about how it was before the Great Recession.

Much Luff onya Bro
Mrki