’MyFace’ aka MySpace, Facebook: How social networking has sucked me in
I've come to a realisation now that I'm bored with Myspace, Facebook, Gaydar girls, Pink Sofa, etc, etc. I've actually come to a conclusion that the only reason I'm still on Facebook and Myspace is because of my friend who passed away, Zoe 'Magenta'. It is a connection to the past that I hang onto. Otherwise I would just delete my account. To hell with it! I stupidly joined Facebook last year, I have '72 friends', about half I've never met in real life.
I became addicted to Facebook from Day 1, spending hours and hours adding crap and childish applications. After Zoe died, my life was in pieces, and I found myself finding 'solace' in Facebook. It was my escape from reality. Send 'love', 'hugs', 'gifts' or 'kiss' your friends. I'm just re-reading that sentence, 'finding solace in Facebook'. Geez, I'm beginning to even feel sorry for myself!
I know I suffer from 'internet addiction' for the last couple of years. I spent 100 hours a month on the internet. This is besides working two part-time jobs and studying a demanding course at uni part-time. Where do I get this time? From staying up late into the wee hours of the morning on the net, depriving myself of sleep, and then complaining "I'm tired" the next day whilst drinking huge amounts of coffee.
The crunch came 2 weeks ago when a good friend (well I considered her to be one, I'm not sure if it was vice versa) suddenly 'blocked' me on Facebook. Firstly I realised that this 'friend' is actually quite vicious, and I had fallen flat on my face thinking she was in fact a genuine/nice/honest/caring friend. Secondly, I realised how 'creepy' Facebook could be. It's freaking me out. This is the dark side of Facebook I never knew about. I'm now checking my friends list daily to see if anyone has deleted me. It's not easy to work out if someone has blocked you, unless you figure it out. I never really knew about blocking and befriending and privacy. I've never really used those functions, except to keep my profile for friends viewing only. Finally, you and I know that Facebook does use our information in other creepy ways. It's a bit like a marketers dream, whereby they no longer have to employ call centre operators in India to find out this information. No, they have invented Facebook instead! Do you know how much Facebook makes in profit? It's laughable! Big Brother is watching you!
Blah, blah. Sorry to go on about that. I just thought the other day how much more fun it is to go out and actually meet real people. One can actually deduce a lot out of meeting, getting a gist of their vibes and personality. I went to a friend's birthday party on Saturday night, and I realised how much more fun it is to be out and about than in front of a computer screen sending a virtual 'gift' to a 'friend'. Or completing one more pathetic quizz called 'What kind of lover are you' or 'Which Sex in the City character are you'?
Maybe I'll get the courage one day and finally delete myself from 'MyFace' (aka MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Flickr, Live Journal) and join the world again. Have drinks and dinners with friends. Go to events.
So tomorrow night I'm going to %$#^&* !@ ^%$ *&^%$ and Sunday night the *^%$%@$%. Mitch is getting a life. She's getting out of here!