The Further Adventures of a Luddite in Cyberland
As you may have noticed, I have been absent from this blog for two years. Not just this blog, but completely off-line. I know that I shouldn’t be surprised at how much the computer world has changed, but I am. I am constantly trying to get a handle on the new ways that people interact online as I try to reintegrate into my friends' social lives.
(No, I wasn’t in jail. And no, I hadn’t been deported because I wasn’t able to produce the original copy of my birth certificate. Apparently that’s only considered a crime if you’re a Democrat in the White House.)
What’s really given me fits is this Facebook thing. When I bailed on the Internet I was in regular communication with my friends via e-mail on Google’s Gmail network. Gmail allowed me to communicate directly with a list of friends, it allowed me to post a picture on myself (or of anything else I wanted), it allowed me to post a brief message that would come up with that picture; it even had a “Chat” feature. I liked Gmail. All of my friends were on Gmail and those who weren’t I could always invite.
Now I'm back on the web, and my old friends hardly ever use Gmail any more. They all use this new thing called Facebook. As I am beginning to understand it, the advantages of Facebook are that you can communicate directly with a list of friends, it allows tou to post a picture of yourself (or of anything else you want), it allows you to post brief message that comes up with that picture, it even has a “Chat” feature. All of my old friends are now on Facebook and those who aren’t I can always invite.
So I’m forced to ask this question: Why the hell do I need Facebook?
In truth, there are a couple of things that Facebook does that Gmail didn’t. Facebook allows you to play on-line games without leaving Facebook, and it lets you have a “gallery” of photos for other people to see,
Is that it? That was enough to make people bail on Gmail? That’s the attraction? What the hell am I missing here? There has got to be something else that makes Facebook such an improvement that everyone just has to have it.
Seriously, what the hell am I missing? If there’s some attraction to Facebook that I’m not seeing, please tell me because I really can’t see the attraction as it stands now. If you know, please tell me. I find it hard to believe that all of my old friends, computer literate and tech savvy as they are, have moved to Facebook just because it’s the Latest and Greatest. At least I hope they haven’t.
(A sidebar…apparently the only way I could use the “Chat” thingy in Facebook would be for me to upgrade to the Latest and Greatest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, or switch to some other Latest and Greatest browser. No, thanks. I’ve had too many computer screw-ups caused by installing the Latest and Greatest something. I can live without the “Chat” thingy.)
One other thing Facebook does; it makes it difficult to hide. If you want to find someone, you search Facebook using their real name (Facebook discourages pseudonyms) and you can see a picture (maybe) and a wealth of personal info that a cleaver person could use to divine a great deal about you. Frankly, if I wanted to be that easy to find I’d have been easier to find these last few years.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I don’t think much of Facebook.
Yet I am still on Facebook, and likely to stay there a while. At least until the next Gotta Have thingy rears its ugly head and everyone else flocks to it and embraces the New for no better reason than that it’s new.
But before I put this one to bed, there’s one thing Facebook has done for me that I can’t complain about. When I first poked my head above the rim of the dark personal hole I had dug for myself, I put my name on Facebook and was surprised to see just how many people had cared enough about me to keep an eye open for me if I should ever surface again. I had been in such a horrible funk that I had forgotten how many people there were that cared. And I’ve really needed that over the last couple of years…I am amazed I got along without it.
Maybe Facebook ain’t all that bad after all.
The Blues VikingLuddite-at-large
The opinions here expressed are mine and if you don’t like them you can get your own damn blog.
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4 comments:
well, I can tell you why I joined facebook- to see pictures of my grandson my daughter was posting. then when I joined, I got "gang-found" by everyone from family members to people I went to high school with.
The nostalgia made me woozy for a bit, and next thing I knew, I was using "facebook" as a verb. I'll probably need some sort of deprogramming eventually
Welcome to the flock. And for the record I am not that computer savvy. It's just much more user friendly than gmail was. I can communicate with my friends now that I am miles away much quicker and hear back from them at their leisure. I could give to shits about the games. But I do like the pics it lets me live vicariously through people I am fond of since I couldn't be there in person. Cheers and welcome back.
I joined Facebook after I was taught that when seeking an agent for my book, that the agent will first check your Facebook to see what kind of 'platform' you had developed. How many networks are you a member of to which the book can be marketed.
Yay. -_-
But being on it, I have a low-level news feed of my family and friend's live. I think of it as a radio program of personal news, and if something pricks my ears, I read and comment. I hear about Kyle's hunting trip, Bern's back pain, my sons' antics, my daughter's imagery.
And your varking. That, in and of itself, is priceless.
For what it costs me, it's well worth it.
I'm still hoping it goes away.
I'm still not on Facebook.
And yes, I've been told it's mandatory as an artist to be on Facebook so people can find me. They won't buy my art but they'll be able to find me. Ha!
There is precious little chance that anyone who doesn't already know where I am is actually looking for me -- always the pragmatist.
I did however get my own damn blog. So There.
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