Yup! They’ve gone about as fer as they can go. I am so confused about this 21st Century notion of communication. Yes, I’m talking about social networking. The MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter culture that has replaced real relationships.
I got a MySpace account to see what all the buzz was about. I had a screen name so nobody knew it was me. I had one friend, Tom, who apparently is everyone’s friend. At the urging of two friends, I joined FaceBook. “We can share pictures and talk” is what they said. To date, no “talking” has occurred. Naturally, because my name was so prominently displayed, I felt like a loser with only two friends so I hunted up a few more. More than once I asked a complete stranger to be my friend and they accepted. Strange.
Almost as soon as I joined, there was a furor about FaceBook changing the rules. They backed down for a second but now they have figured out a way to get around their millions of users. They have posted the two proposals and they want us to vote. Well, it doesn’t take brains to figure out that people who have now become addicted to six second communication are not going to read pages of legalese in 6 pt. typeface and vote. Conclusion: they will change it what they wanted it to be in the first place.
I saw the Oprah show where she was so enamored of FaceBook. I loved how she kept saying, “I did not know what people were talking about.” I watched her and Mark and Gayle oooh and ahhh over the wonders of FaceBook. I saw the twentysomething millionare walk them through how to update their status.
I don’t have to know what you ate for dinner. Every meal. Every day. I don’t need to know that you have to go pee or that you’re stuck in traffic. I have blocked some people out because they update every hour.
Two weeks later, Oprah was enamored of Twitter. “I hear people talking about this all of the time and I had no idea what they were talking about.” I kept waiting for one of the panel to ask how Twitter was different from FaceBook. No one did. Perhaps because they aren’t really different.
This past weekend I found out about the loss of a friend. Had it not been for a timely phone call from my daughter, I would have found out in the most impersonal way. She found out on FaceBook. Yikes!
Every application comes with the caveat that people will now be able to see your whole business if you use the application. And let’s talk about the applications. Did you know you could take a quiz and find out what U.S. President you are most like? Or what element you are most like. Or what cheeseburger you are most like. Okay, there is no cheeseburger quiz but you get my point. Who has time to take a quiz and discover you are most like Grover Cleveland.
Anyway, I make a peace with FaceBook and suddenly I am behind the times because I do not Twitter. All of my FaceBook “friends” want me to follow them. Does any of this sound remotely cultish? I checked out a few people on Twitter. It’s the same as FaceBook. Yup. Only now your friends are followers and you are following others. Question? Does anybody know where the hell they are going?
Are we concerned because we no longer have handwriting? Does anyone notice that you have no voice. Only emails and texts and status updates and Tweets. I get the whole marketing value of these venues. If you have a show and you want an audience this is a good way to get one. All of your friends and followers have friends and followers and before you know it there are people in the house. It’s great for marketing books and music, too. I have been able to listen to sermons by my home church pastor, Bishop Charles E. Blake and find out what my former students are up to. But, OMG will never take the place of hearing the excitement in my voice when a friend says she is pregnant and LOL will never replace the lyrical sound of laughter floating upward to tickle God’s ears. There is warmth in the human voice and soul and spirit in our pen. Long story short, call me. I miss the sound of your voice.
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