Smashing of the Shrine

Last Wednesday, around 3 am, my roommates and I had a very intense discussion about Facebook, friendships, time, and community. We came to the conclusion that very little good has come out of our experience with this social networking site. So much of how we interpret our real, face-to-face relationships with people is read through the grid of Facebook. Even if it doesn’t determine how we interact, Facebook ever looms over us. Its presence is hard to ignore.

I’ve had Facebook since 2005. I made a new one in 2006 when I started community college. Facebook was an extension of myself, an entity that existed apart from me, yet was still a part of me. I was calculated in what I shared. Most of my statuses were sarcastic, self-deprecating, or anti-climatic, mocking whatever the hype of the day was. I had an image to uphold. The majority of my time was spent mindlessly clicking through the newsfeed and friends’ pictures and conversations. I subconsciously (and consciously) judged everyone based on their grammar, social awareness (how much is too much?) and ability to share information in an aesthetically pleasing way via the tools we had been given by dear Mark Zuckerberg and company. Six years into using Facebook, I would often find myself on the homepage, unsure of how I got there. My fingers would type the address automatically. It became so regular, so natural, so mind-numbing.

Community is important – crucial to our survival and health as human beings. It is being damaged by the reliance upon instantaneous gratification and access to information. Facebook is taking the place of real community. I believe it’s time to reclaim that. The first step to doing this is deleting my page. It’s now or never, go big or go home… something like that.

Since Facebook, my writing ability – completing thoughts and explaining concepts in a tactful way – has decreased significantly. It became much easier to communicate through sharing links, clicking “like,” or just writing a few stupid comments. Even easier than actually calling someone, or sending them a long e-mail or letter. My mind used to be so much more engaged. Now it is instantly gratified and weak. The gratification due to this disconnected yet immediate communication is temporary and leaves much more to be desired. I am convinced that Facebook is devaluing community and communication. Although there are many positive aspects to this kind of social networking, the negative (for me, personally) far outweigh whatever conveniences it provides. Having everything in a centralized, accessible location is nice. But it destroys the opportunity to actually fight for something, to search for something. I’m lazy enough as it is. I need to take measures to combat that, starting with Facebook.

This doesn’t mean I’m withdrawing myself from online networking altogether. Obviously. However, I do want to focus my energies on producing material that is more thoughtful and meaningful. I want to start printing out the pictures I take; create an actual hard-copy portfolio. There’s no real need for that with Facebook. Hopefully the absence of my virtual life in my life (make sense?) will motivate me to start doing, to reach out and create in more tangible ways.

I realize Facebook doesn’t affect everyone the same way it affected me. I know plenty of people that barely use it. But as a very visual, right-brained person, Facebook was an extreme distraction in my life. Not anymore.

Erik @ 9/12/11, 1:02 pm: “Just so you know, everyone is going to make you feel unwelcome and hated at Thanksgiving… if you delete your Facebook.”

Micah @ 9:05 pm: “i will murder you if you delete your facebook- seriously.”

Bye, suckers!

P.S. If you have a blog, send it to me, I’ll add it to the blogroll. Don’t hesitate to call or write. Or Skype. Or Gchat. Who am I kidding? I am tethered to technology. Baby steps.