are you your status update?
my timeline doesn't appear on safari for the iPad
i'm not one to complain about changes being made on a free service that i use and enjoy, even if it means having to navigate through an unfamiliar jungle. so when facebook drops new layout configurations on my head, my world doesn't go upside down and i have to express my rage or my discontent with a status update or a tweet. nor do i panic when news of facebook's impending closure spreads and i have to rush to post an update just to confirm to mark zuckerberg that my account is active so they won't delete me and it turns out (as it always does) a hoax which exposes how stupid and gullible i can be. my life does not revolve around facebook and its interface. it does not dictate how i interact with my friends. it is a tool -- and a useful one, i will not deny that -- but i control it, not the other way around.
my facebook timeline
i use facebook -- and social networking sites in general -- mainly for the following: to get news (gossip, updates, actual late-breaking, this-just-in news from citizen journalists and giant networks) and to rekindle ties with friends with whom i've lost touch through the years. to a lesser extent i use it as repository for photos, random thoughts, humorous anecdotes, and nostalgic musings about life. i don't use it as an outlet for angst-ridden and passive-aggressive comments about co-workers or other people. it's because i realize that facebook might be fleeting. might, because i'm not sure whether it will be replaced by another social networking service. might, because it could possibly take over the world. might, because we've all seen what happened to friendster, what's happening to multiply.
facebook's iPad native app is better than friendly and mypad
so i didn't raise a ruckus when facebook introduced timeline -- which i described as a nice, nostalgic, but ultimately nauseauting trip, effectively burying some of my posts under a proverbial rug. i'm not sure if people see my page the same way but i can't seem to navigate through my notes without difficulty. but it didn't wrinkle my forehead since i blog mainly over at livejournal, which has been the home of my random ruminations for the last seven years. of course, i use all my online personas (presences?) to complement each other. one is not meant to replace the other. each has a specific purpose, and right now, they all somehow gather on facebook. i've always blogged on LJ, and, since twitter for iPad became available, i've mainly been tweeting, rather than providing status updates. and i don't know why it's taken facebook so long, but i've just downloaded the facebook app for the iPad, which provides me better functionality, for the limited functions of facebook that i use. it became available only this week, and i've confused my iPad for my iPhone since it makes the SMS tone each time i receive a notification.
so my online life thrives. but still, i am not defined by it.