With FaceBook, the phone never rings.
When I lived in a small NH town, I knew someone who worked for the phone company in downtown Boston. My phone bill would have been 30% more if I had lived in Boston, but he convinced me that in Boston my phone would be able to reach hundreds of thousands more people, so the extra money was worth it. This made sense to me. But then he told me, with a wry smile, that no matter where you lived, you’d only have the same small number of friends.
FaceBook is a curious phenomenon. I recently saw that a man I know is now friends with his wife of thirty odd years. Maybe that’s news, but it sounds silly. As a matter of fact the whole FaceBook treatment of friends smacks of a grammar school recess activity. I don’t mean to imply recess wasn’t fun, but I think something more sinister may be going on with FaceBook.
I worry that FaceBook and other social media may be gutting the word “friend.” For instance, if I were to have a virtual barn raising this weekend, I wonder how many FaceBook friends would show up to help. None would be my guess. FaceBook’s goal may be to build a community, but in fact it may be doing just the opposite. Not only does the sound-bite size of the entries smack of narcissism, but I think FaceBook wants us to believe that we need more friends. The end result, for me, is much like sitting at home and waiting for the phone to ring with a job offer or perhaps to answer and hear a friendly voice. But with FaceBook, the phone never rings.
Notes:
The picture is of my wife’s grandfather who is 102. He lived this long by working everyday making all sorts of baskets from scratch. As his doctors have now told him he may not live out the end of the year, the family had a funeral for him which he could attend while he was alive. Amazing Thailand.
I suppose what put me in this in-your-face FaceBook mood is that while I’m not raising a barn I am working on an essay which none of my friends will read. You’ll see.
In changing my background picture, my spam e-mails went up over two-fold. Friends, be wary. FG
When I lived in a small NH town, I knew someone who worked for the phone company in downtown Boston. My phone bill would have been 30% more if I had lived in Boston, but he convinced me that in Boston my phone would be able to reach hundreds of thousands more people, so the extra money was worth it. This made sense to me. But then he told me, with a wry smile, that no matter where you lived, you’d only have the same small number of friends.
FaceBook is a curious phenomenon. I recently saw that a man I know is now friends with his wife of thirty odd years. Maybe that’s news, but it sounds silly. As a matter of fact the whole FaceBook treatment of friends smacks of a grammar school recess activity. I don’t mean to imply recess wasn’t fun, but I think something more sinister may be going on with FaceBook.
I worry that FaceBook and other social media may be gutting the word “friend.” For instance, if I were to have a virtual barn raising this weekend, I wonder how many FaceBook friends would show up to help. None would be my guess. FaceBook’s goal may be to build a community, but in fact it may be doing just the opposite. Not only does the sound-bite size of the entries smack of narcissism, but I think FaceBook wants us to believe that we need more friends. The end result, for me, is much like sitting at home and waiting for the phone to ring with a job offer or perhaps to answer and hear a friendly voice. But with FaceBook, the phone never rings.
Notes:
The picture is of my wife’s grandfather who is 102. He lived this long by working everyday making all sorts of baskets from scratch. As his doctors have now told him he may not live out the end of the year, the family had a funeral for him which he could attend while he was alive. Amazing Thailand.
I suppose what put me in this in-your-face FaceBook mood is that while I’m not raising a barn I am working on an essay which none of my friends will read. You’ll see.
In changing my background picture, my spam e-mails went up over two-fold. Friends, be wary. FG
posted by Forrest at
8:05 PM
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