Fish Outta H2O

Every business now adds “Like us on Facebook!” to their commercials, advertisements and even store windows.  All of my favorite crime dramas use Facebook, or rather, a Facebook knock off due to licensing issues, for their investigations. I have had confused arguments with people because they will swear they told me something they didn’t actually tell me but it will take ten minutes for them to come out and say that they posted it on Facebook.  I hate that.

I have many friends and family members spread out across the country and even in other countries. Utilizing things like Facebook, Skype and email is sometimes the only ways to be able to communicate with those people. Time zone issues, work schedules and daily personal responsibilities cramp the amount of time we all have. For those relationships, I find that I love Facebook. It keeps me connected to those people that I can’t see often. It makes sense. It’s practical. It’s an online photo album reminding me of the good times I’ve already had with them and a message board allowing me to send inanities to them reminding them how goofy we all turn around each other.

I feel like our technological advances are making us all lazy. We don’t have to exert any energy to be friends. We don’t have to remember facts because there’s a transcript permanently online for access. We don’t have to have to actually speak to people because we’ve already “Liked” their status. Human beings are already lousy communicators subjecting ourselves to this half-assed shorthand posted for the whole world to see. Yes, I know there’s privacy settings you can put in place but there are many people who don’t use them.

All of these issues have led me to purge my list of “friends” twice now. On many occasions I have become so frustrated with it all that I have considered just shutting down my Facebook page. I hesitate because of the family members and friends that I rarely see who are in my list. The people I have pared my list down to don’t aggravate me like the various people on Lamebook and Failbook. That’s a lucky thing for me. I don’t even have any friends who insist on sending me inane app or game requests! Summation: I use Facebook as a tool for keeping in touch with people I care about. I do not log on and waste entire days playing games, using it as a way of communicating so that I never have to leave the house or downloading apps I have no intention of ever using.