I think now is the appropriate time to tell my followers that I actually dislike Facebook very much and now is a relevant time to explain so with the premiere of The Social Network tomorrow.
I think technology is great and should be embraced. People should be eager to learn when access and availability make it possible. I see technology as wings humans fly with, not the crutches to walk with.
It's impossible to say that our wings will never become our crutches. Even thought I consider myself to be a low maintenance guy, I still wonder how I would survive or enjoy my week if I couldn't watch football on TV. Or even a channel to publish these writings. Can't exactly have a blog through a newspaper these days (and those are actually called "columns").
I don't hate Facebook, I hate what it represents. I see it as a barometer of how dependent and absent-minded society is becoming with regard to technology. When I see people on Facebook "liking" everything under the earth and every childhood memory, I can't help but wonder what being excluded. Will conversations about the fads and phenomena of yesteryear just be "yeah, I liked that" "oh, I like that too." It's fun to talk about these things. It's a different level of engagement when you're on the phone (cellular or pay) and when the conversation glides to talking about these things. Or visiting a friend and somehow the words "I remember when…" gathers everyone's attention in earshot. People stop what they're doing to talk and engage with each other.
I don't mean to say that that's not what Facebook is doing. Facebook's mission is "to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected." I think that's what every social network should strive to do. The very definition of social media should be to empower the individual.
It's a shame only a fraction of that empowerment is utilized. It sickens me that in order to get people to market anything party, a Facebook event is a prerequisite. It hurts when I see that boys and girls cry or scream when relationship statuses change. Facebook is a great way to make a presence. Its universality is amazing and evident when people say "oh, just look me up on Facebook." People could use these tools to network, to keep in touch, to collaborate. But I see it being wasted on people playing games like Farmville and spamming my inbox with buy this and buy that campaigns. I think the only positives that I can think of from this are that people are less shy towards being a start-up and hopefully being immersed in these marketing clichés, they will learn that those tickets are NOT really selling that fast no matter who sends the message.
For every inspiring piece of photography that I see from an amateur, I see 5 questions answered about someone in a random social interview (and these answers aren't really worth repeating.) For every new start up that is trying to do better than someone else, I see people inviting me to share my phone number because of a lost phone. In fact, Facebook is approaching mass commercialization joining the ranks of Christmas cards and Valentines. Yes, Facebook is committed to being free but is the experience just as rich while we're facing ads for everything that we like? That now more and more businesses are trying to profit from people hanging out with their friends on the digital sphere. Maybe Facebook should offer a Lite version and offer a paid subscription free of ads. Maybe I should just quit Facebook altogether. But that's what I hate: if I want to engage with my community, with my peers – I have few other options than Facebook. It seems to be the standard. Face it, the social network is our crutch to reach out, engage, and do what people like to do. If we're going to have a crutch, it needs to be useful, it needs to be effective. I can accept having that the only information to my party is a Facebook invite. But I can't accept it when people mark off they'll be attending and don't show up. Or stick to a middle ground with a "maybe". I can be stuck in that limbo with live engagement, I don't need a social network to do it for me. Maybe we need a higher standard either from our social network or our society. Maybe I just need some fresh air from the dust and cobwebs.
Facebook is just one giant laboratory. It's a testing ground for people to try everything – from learning how to socialize to learning how to spam. I can accept that these are lessons that today's generation will have to learn albeit I don't believe it's the best place to learn. I've dipped my hand in the well and gotten what I need from it. Don't commit yourself to one classroom though (and who hasn't heard the notion of learning outside the classroom.) Today you're the student; don't forget that one day you'll be the teacher. How embarrassing would it be to prove that you don't know anything?
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