Facebook Thoughts
I have to admit that I was a little bit late to the Facebook game (and VERY late to the Twitter game)... I kind of like how Facebook lets me get to know people (albeit superficially) that I wouldn't have ever known. It helps me to recognize people at my church that I wouldn't necessarily have known without it. It is however starting to annoy me a bit. It kind of reminds me of why I ended up giving up on MMORPGs. Click below to continue reading this rather longish post (for me, anyway).
Facebook is this never ending stream of information. It starts in the morning before I'm awake, and keeps going through the night as I sleep. There's this compulsion to keep track of everything, which I pretty much had to give up on early on in my Facebook life. At first I just disregarded everything that happened overnight, and now I've found that I don't even bother to go back very far the few times I check it throughout the day.
I've got friends that should have a darker tan on their face from all the time they spend with their faces glued to Facebook on their iPhones. Every spare second is a chance to check Facebook... to see how everyone is doing.
It's not like it's just Facebook anymore... Now there is Google+, Twitter, and even the Table Project... kind of like a custom "Facebook" for churches. There is so much information out there, sometimes it can get a little overwhelming. I have a friend that recently quit Facebook, and I discovered that she (and her husband) both have blogs. I've enjoyed reading them, and it has given me a whole new insight into them as people. It actually highlights how superficial Facebook is.
Now, I'm not going to quit Facebook or anything rash like that, but I just don't care about it as much as I used to. Maybe it's the constant stream of new features trying to steal my privacy, or maybe it's just one too many invitations to buy someone a drink on Sorority Life (yes, I'm aware that I can block that, and I did a long time ago.) I also don't like how it will steal all of your free time if you let it.
That makes me think of my TV watching habits. Before Ruth was born, Alison and I probably watched 4-5 hours of TV a night. We had all of our favorite shows, and the TiVo made sure that we never missed an episode. When Ruth was born, we decided not to watch TV before she went to bed. I'm only with her from 5:45pm - 8:00pm before she goes to bed, and I want to make good use of that time. As a result, our "TV Watching Window" has shrunk to around 2 hours a night. Recently, we don't even watch TV for that long. The typical night for us involves only around an hour of TV watching. The rest is talking or reading or whatever we want to do.
It's kind of amazing how much being a parent can change your life. Sure, there are the expected things like changing diapers and playing... but there are also things that you may not think about. For instance, we rarely see movies anymore, just because of the need to find someone to watch Ruth. Video Games? Not anymore. I sold the Wii because it had been gathering dust for around a year.
I'm not complaining... Things aren't worse now, they're better.
Facebook is this never ending stream of information. It starts in the morning before I'm awake, and keeps going through the night as I sleep. There's this compulsion to keep track of everything, which I pretty much had to give up on early on in my Facebook life. At first I just disregarded everything that happened overnight, and now I've found that I don't even bother to go back very far the few times I check it throughout the day.
I've got friends that should have a darker tan on their face from all the time they spend with their faces glued to Facebook on their iPhones. Every spare second is a chance to check Facebook... to see how everyone is doing.
It's not like it's just Facebook anymore... Now there is Google+, Twitter, and even the Table Project... kind of like a custom "Facebook" for churches. There is so much information out there, sometimes it can get a little overwhelming. I have a friend that recently quit Facebook, and I discovered that she (and her husband) both have blogs. I've enjoyed reading them, and it has given me a whole new insight into them as people. It actually highlights how superficial Facebook is.
Now, I'm not going to quit Facebook or anything rash like that, but I just don't care about it as much as I used to. Maybe it's the constant stream of new features trying to steal my privacy, or maybe it's just one too many invitations to buy someone a drink on Sorority Life (yes, I'm aware that I can block that, and I did a long time ago.) I also don't like how it will steal all of your free time if you let it.
That makes me think of my TV watching habits. Before Ruth was born, Alison and I probably watched 4-5 hours of TV a night. We had all of our favorite shows, and the TiVo made sure that we never missed an episode. When Ruth was born, we decided not to watch TV before she went to bed. I'm only with her from 5:45pm - 8:00pm before she goes to bed, and I want to make good use of that time. As a result, our "TV Watching Window" has shrunk to around 2 hours a night. Recently, we don't even watch TV for that long. The typical night for us involves only around an hour of TV watching. The rest is talking or reading or whatever we want to do.
It's kind of amazing how much being a parent can change your life. Sure, there are the expected things like changing diapers and playing... but there are also things that you may not think about. For instance, we rarely see movies anymore, just because of the need to find someone to watch Ruth. Video Games? Not anymore. I sold the Wii because it had been gathering dust for around a year.
I'm not complaining... Things aren't worse now, they're better.