Being Social

Mark believes that all social networking sites are toxic and evil, especially Facebook. But I'm not ready to bail on social networking just yet.

I have really enjoyed reconnecting with people who would otherwise just be distant memories. I enjoy reading about what they've been doing and viewing the pictures and videos of their vacations and grandkids.

But it's getting a bit like email in some ways. Remember when email was a novelty? It was so much quicker than picking up the phone. You could stay in touch with everyone no matter where they were. And it was so much cheaper than a phone call. But how many people used email to keep in touch? Mostly it was (and to some degree still is) used to forward jokes and inflammatory political messages. I just got to the point where I didn't open them.

And now Facebook is getting a bit like that. A year or so ago everyone was sharing quizzes. "Which Disney Princess are you?" "Which Biblical character are you?" "Which city should you live in?", etc. When these first came out I thought they had some basis in psychology and the study of personality. Boy, was I naive! It became obvious to me that anyone could publish a quiz when I noticed the preponderance of poor grammar and spelling. It's not likely that anyone with an advanced degree in psychology does not know how to use spell-check. Clearly, we should not pack up and move to San Francisco based on this quiz.

Next came the surveys. "Which states/cities/countries have you been to?" "Which foods have you tried?" "Which movies have you seen?" Again, issues with spelling and grammar. (Yes, I am a "Grammar Nazi". Using the wrong verb tense is tantamount to scraping your nails down a chalkboard.)

And now, it's platitudes. Everyday I am bombarded with cliches and truisms. At first I didn't mind, except for the ones that were lacking good grammar. (There is a difference between "you're" and "your". There are also very distinct rules for using apostrophes. These rules seem to be lost on a great number of people.) But now, like the emails they are becoming a bit tiresome. I have a few friends who share one of these "photos" once every few months. That's fine. But I have a few friends who feel compelled to share five of these things per hour. Really? I want to know what you're doing. What you're thinking. Is your life really defined by cliches? I doubt it. (At least I hope not.)

Just a couple more pet peeves about Facebook. I believe that God knows everything. Everything includes what's been posted on Facebook. But seriously, I would like to know what the people who start their status updates with "Dear God" are thinking. If you are truly going to pray to God, just do that. I believe your status update is intended not for God, but for me. To impress me with how "godly" you are, but believe me, it has the opposite effect. If you want the rest of us to pray for you, just say so.

And just so you know, you are not likely to change my political or religious views no matter how many links you provide. It's interesting to have a discussion, but too many people just shut down when faced with an opposing view. And people seem to "say" things online that they would never say to someone in a face-to-face situation. It's just rude.

We're getting close to the end of my complaints. Business! That's what LinkedIn is for. Facebook is "social" not "business". How many of you have actually closed business that can be attributed to Facebook? (I would be surprised if many of you have actually closed business that can be attributed to LinkedIn.) And if you want to keep promoting your business to me on Facebook, don't get annoyed if I promote mine to you.

This doesn't really annoy me, but I find it incredibly silly. I am friends with a couple who carry on conversations on Facebook even though they are in the same house. Really? Is your house so big that you can't find each other to carry on that conversation? And really, it doesn't concern the rest of us.

My primary responsibilities are to run the back office for my husband's business, to trade options, and to make our home a nice place to be. My time to spend on games is a bit limited, although I especially like Words with Friends. But today I saw an ad for a new Facebook game called "The Ville". This is the game where you can "create your dream home and social life". Maybe I'm missing something, but I think you'd do better with your dream home and your social life if you got off Facebook. Just sayin...