I did it, I got a facebook account. That is, I stopped using it for only photographs and I actually accepted some “friend requests”. I don’t expect to use f.b. a great deal (I don’t use kellyshepherd.com very much these days either, for that matter) but it’s something I thought I’d try. So far it seems to be a good way to get back in touch with friends and relatives who I haven’t talked to for years.
People say facebook is highly addictive – but like anything else, we can choose if and when to use it. (Is that true?)
Facebook seems to be part of the same mass hypnosis as cell phones, texting, ipods, etc. - even though a piece of technology may be only a couple of years (even months?) old, we grab onto it for dear life and can’t seem to imagine living without it any more. We become dependant on these things, things that in the previous generation or decade hadn’t even been invented. Never mind that people have been able to live healthy, productive, imaginative lives for millenia without any such technology. No – now that they’re here, we absolutely need these things. I find this a little frightening.
(And yes, I’m aware of the hypocrisy: criticising technology via weblog.)
I’ve spoken with parents who say that they have no choice, they need to get this technology, and learn how to use it - because that’s how their kids do things. Sounds like: they can’t communicate with their kids unless they’re willing to do so on the kids’ terms? Like the music industry (primary target audience still being, I think, 14 year old girls spending their parents’ money) maybe this is more evidence of our society’s unspoken religion: youth-worship. It’s almost as if capitalism needs to butter up the future generations, so they won’t leave the fold when they come of age.
But what do I know? I only have twenty-five friends!