Online Outcast
28 09 2007So the other day I had a little debacle where I joined F*cebook but not really, and now I’m in a bit of a quandary about it. Here’s what happened: I was IM-ing my brother one night, and I can’t explain it, but I swear that the screen said something about F*cebook. So I became curious to see if he was on it (ok, I was fishing for incriminating photos of him and his friends - he’s 10 years younger than me). So I joined and became his friend and looked at his pictures (all mild - darn!). BUT - I watched in horror (and went along?) as F*cebook imported all of the people in my email address book, and showed me the people who have F*cebook profiles. Then somehow THEY became my friends. Wait - no, I didn’t mean for this to happen….Then I received an email from a certain online friend who wrote on my “wall” and we had a very humorous exchange that went something like:
Friend: “Hi, A!”
Me: “uh, hi, but I’m really not on F*cebook…”
Friend: “uh, if you are not on F*cebook, than how are we talking right now?”
It’s all very deep and existential, you see, and to fully explore it would mean to get at the very meaning of life itself.
Anywho, so now I’m in this F*cebook netherworld where I have an account and like 5 friends, with no profile and no picture. I figured actually adding those things would confirm that I’m actually ON F*cebook, which I’m not. See - I tried the social networking thing a while back with Fr*endster, and I had the same problem: not enough friends = felt lame, didn’t use it enough, didn’t update pictures, eventually got ride of account. It felt great to be free of the pressure to make cyber-friends when I can hardly handle making friends in real life. I also feel a bit old for it all - it mostly seems like a college/possibly early 20’s thing, and I’m just on the cusp.
This article only confirms that I’m so not ready for the commitment that comes with social networking sites (although those of you who use F*cebook might find it quite entertaining). I figure that connecting to the blogging world is enough of an online presence for me. Oh - and keeping up with what books I’m reading/want to read on G*odReads, because I’m a complete DORK. Hmmm…a correlation, perhaps?
This makes me chuckle (with you, not at you). A month or so ago a friend of mine working in Africa set up a page and invited all of us to join to track her journey. All of the sudden, I started receiving friend requests from friends in DC where we just moved from…which was great. But a bit overwhelming. I like to IM, but facebook is a bit much. I now maintain a steady 8-friend list, and don’t imagine (or plan) for it to grow much more. I’m trying to remain on the down low, but we shall see if the plan works or not. We’re all over 30, but at the very least, I’m trying to keep up with technology so when we finally have kids, I’ll have a tiny bit of knowledge of the mischief they are getting in to!!
btw - reading = cool.
Hahahahaha. This is so Amy. I love it! Yo may not love Facebook, but it loves you!