Why I Stay Off of Social Networking Sites

People are addicted to social networking sites. This is not an exaggeration. If you live anywhere in the world, there is 99% chance you’re involved in a social networking site (statistic made up off of the top of my head). There’s Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, AIM, Tumblr, Formspring etc, etc. Personally, I like to stay clear of them because although they help you communicate with lots of people, I think the cons are greater than the pros. (Note: I know that people — the two of you reading this, props to you — are going to get all huffy about my social networking bashing, so sorry, but this is just a matter of opinion).

Distractions, Distractions

This is your schedule one day after school: lacrosse from 3-5, pasta party 5-6, band 6-7:30, dinner until 8, homework till 9:30 and you still want to watch the game on TV, plus shower. So you hop on the computer at 8:15 so you can knock out your english, math, history, and language homework at the speed of light and watch the game. HEY FACEBOOK! HEY TWITTER! HEY FORMSPRING! Look, 15 notifications, 8 comments on my Twitter status, and 12 Formspring questions! Everyone knows that no one gets on Facebook, checks notifications, and logs out. Duh. Facebook is made for stalking (….I think…) so you have to look at your news feed, latest photos, latest Facebook fights, join a few groups. LOOK AT THAT IT’S 9:15! You just spent an hour mindlessly commenting, answering retarded questions, and looking at people’s latest dumb updates! GOOD USE OF TIME! Now you can’t watch the game and you don’t start showering till 11. Perfect.

Pointless News

X  and Y are fighting? Why does everyone hate X? Guess what Y and A did last weekend? Wait but A and B are going out?! WHO. CARES. As soon as you log into a social networking site, you learn tons of information that is COMPLETELY POINTLESS. I really care that X and Y, who I don’t know and have never talked to in my life, are in a big fight and no one knows why. Yes, now that I have this vital piece of information, I am going to spend the rest of the night secretly stalking and calling in my spies to dig up information on X and Y to check out the nuances of their complicated relationship gone awry. My life is now complete.

People (aka “The Sensitive Type”) Get Hurt

SOMEONE TOLD ME ON MY FORMSPRING THAT I’M FAKE! *BAWL*
K, one, why do you have a Formspring in the first place  if you can’t take these comments? People are going to write crap about you. Get over it, or don’t post it. Two, clearly the person who wrote this is too afraid to say this to your face so that should make you care even less. If I think someone is fake, I won’t be friends with them or I’ll be like, yo you’re fake. I won’t be like OMG I LOVE YOU wait just kidding she’s fake. So, yeah, don’t get upset over these comments if you choose to subject yourself to the anonymous bashers. But also, now that these “sensitive, touchy-feely types” got a crappy comment their day is ruined (HOW CAN I BE FAKE WTF!) and they’ll complain about to their posse (OMG SOMEONE CALLED ME FAKE ON FORMSPRING! You’re the realest person I know, don’t listen to those haters, I LOVE YOU!) Feel better now? I didn’t think so…

Addiction

There’s some weird magic thing about any social networking site you choose that makes you addicted in no time. It really is like a drug. I think it’s because you’ll never have seen, read, or talked about every single new piece of information on the site and people are constantly posting and updating and you can’t keep up with the updates so there’s always something new and exciting about someone. Being addicted to these sites (kind of like the distractions piece) takes away from your non-screen life when you could be doing more productive things (of course, if you have nothing better to do by all means, sit on your computer typing away your feelings on random people’s Formsprings). I feel like you’re almost free when you stop Facebooking, emailing, tweeting, IMing, even texting. It’s like not so claustrophobic or something. I don’t know maybe it’s just me and I’m weird but I kind of like not knowing every tidbit every one second about every person who I don’t really care about. It’s like following celebrities. It gets you ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE.

I know a lot of people LOVE social networking, and it’s definitely good for a bunch of things, but I think that staying off of these sites really has no negative effect and actually helps you. Call me crazy, but try it and maybe you’ll agree with me.

Relationship Statuses on Facebook

One part of Facebook that I find really funny (maybe it’s just me) is when someone changes their relationship status. K, it’s not THAT funny, but the comments are. It’s also funny because it’s not just like (for those who are unfamiliar with Facebook) “single” or “taken.” It’s SPECIFIC.

“I’m single but I’M LOOKING. JUST IN CASE ANYONE WAS WONDERING! Yup this girl right here, single BUT LOOKING. Hear that single dudes? I’M LOOKING (specifically at you tall dark hunk).”

Thank you for broadcasting your inner relationship feelings all over Facebook.

Since I’m a sucker for lists because they make me seem official, they’re fun to write, and because I’ve heard through the grapevine that it’s a “good blogging technique,” I think I’ll list this out.

• Single – You’d think this one would be self-explanatory, and for the most part it is. I’m single. This means I’m not taken. But the comments. OH THE COMMENTS! It’s almost as many as when someone’s in a relationship. When someone’s status suddenly goes to single, suddenly it’s pity party mania. “X is now single.” People are either a) happy because s/he is a dateable candidate b) sad because s/he broke their friends heart c) shocked d) indifferent. And when someone first posts their relationship status as “single,” it’s automatically ZOMG WHO WERE YOU DATING BEFORE?! No one. I just felt like putting a status. Chill.
• Married – So you’re married. Cute. But couples who have been going out since the Ice Age (aka longer than 6 months) are like “X is married to Y!” No you’re not. Your DATING. Put married when you’re actually married. So when you break up you’ll be “divorced?”
• In a Relationship - Commonly used. Simple. You’re going out with someone. This one doesn’t seem to cause much controversy over all. Except the comments get really annoying, too. “X is in a relationship with Y!” — OMG I KNEW YOU GUYS WOULD GO OUT! Awww, you’re perrrfect together <3333 love you two! X+Y FOREVS! Yeah. It’s great.
• In an Open Relationship - Seriously, that’s literally the most pointless thing. YO EVERYONE ON FACEBOOK LISTEN UP! X IS IN AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP WITH Y! Okay. Let me explain. It’s cute when two people are in a relationship and people (okay, maybe only their friends) generally care when two kids are going out. They like it. They don’t care that you are “dating but not really” someone. And some girls think it’s like the funniest thing when they’re “in an open relationship” with their friend. I don’t really know why people do it. They think it’s funny or they think they look pathetic just putting “single.” Either way, when “A (girl) is in an open relationship with B (girl friend),” it’s really not amusing at all.
• It’s Complicated – My personal favorite. Anyone who puts “it’s complicated with” as their relationship status is pretty hilarious, desperate, and generally lovable. “X is IT’S COMPLICATED WITH Y.” I can’t even do justice to this status. It means that you want so badly, like SO BADLY to be going out with this person, but it’s just not working out. Hence, you put “it’s complicated” which translates as “I’M DESPERATE! SHE HATES ME!” It’s for those adorable naive people who mistakingly flaunt the fact that they’re desperately, hopelessly being rejected. “It’s Complicated” does not mean “We’re getting there.” It means “I’m holding on to the last thread of this person because I’m pretty sure we’re WAY over.” So complicated.

Relationship statuses alone are entertaining to me. It would be fun to watch others play around with their statuses and see what they REALLY mean when they post what’s up in their love life.

Issues with Technology

TECHNOLOGY=BEST THING EVER INVENTED, MAN!

….

maybe.

Technology has definitely made our life infinitely easier. Imagine if we didn’t have computers, phones, or TV. No internet, Facebook, Myspace, IM, Twitter, BLOGGING :’( , Word Processing etc. No calling, texting or picture messaging. No TV shows, movies, or news updates (for the nerds that love the news). Everything would be so much slower, harder, and less enjoyable.

But think on the flip side. Technology is something we all take for granted. Now that we have it, we can’t live without it.

Take my brother for instance. He has to do this retarded “reading log” crap EVERY NIGHT (the teachers are REAL creative at his school). He, a perfectly capable middle schooler with two hands, five fingers on each, INSISTS (and I mean he will put up a vicious fight) on TYPING his reading log. Like he will have a heart attack if he has to hand write his reading log. Kids can’t even do a simple writing assignment without the aid of Word Processing. It wasn’t even this bad when I was his age four years ago. I could function without the computer, writing diligently by hand on wide-ruled sheets (ah, I was such a good child). Now, he “can’t” do his reading log by hand; it’s “impossible.”

Then we have cell phones and iPods, which pretty much every kid has nowadays. Bored? Text a friend or listen to some tunes. Trust me, these things TOTES make my life better on long car rides, after school, during boring classes- I MEAN…. but some people are seriously addicted. You know the obnoxious type who texts LEGIT every five seconds to three different people. Yeah, they annoy me. SOCIAL SKILLS PEOPLE.

Or the type that’s constantly listening to music. There’s this girl in my school and I have NEVER seen her without a headphone in her ear. It’s glued into her ear. She showers with it in, that’s how addicted she is. And if the headphone falls out, she scrambles frantically to shove it back in her ear ASAP so she didn’t miss any precious part of her song. Seriously, are you THAT obsessed with music that you can’t survive for five seconds without listening to it? Oh…wait, you aren’t, you just like looking cool having that headphone dangling out of your ear as you skip to class. I totally understand, I do the same thing.

Back to the computer thing, there’s not just a simple email account (which is how it used to be) where you can shoot cute little emails off to individual friends and get cute little responses back :

Hey Sue, What’s up? We haven’t talked in a while, I miss you! Email back soon! xoxoxoxo heartsmileyheart!

Hey Zeenie, I miss you too! Life’s great! love ya! xoxooxoxooxox heartheartsmiley!

Now, if you want to talk to your friends, it’s all over Facebook or Myspace or Twitter (which is probably the dumbest invention ever). And to make it worse, people can comment on it!

Take the previous exchange. All I want to do is send a nice lil message to my bestie Sue. Then I get this:

FB: “Betty has just commented on your wallpost”

Me: ??? *checks thing*

FB: Betty – AW THAT’S SO CUTE YOU GUYS ARE TALKING! I miss you too Zeen!

Me: Gee thanks Betty, but last time I checked, I sent this to SUE…OH WAIT, now that I’m on Facebook THE WHOLE WORLD CAN SEE THIS! AINT THAT SPECIAL!

But I’ll save issues with social networking for a different post.

Technology, even a few years ago, was much simpler. If you had a personal phone, you could call someone. If you wanted to get in touch with someone, you emailed. And TV (thank god) hasn’t gotten all 3D-ified yet so that’s still pretty much the same.

Of course, I love technology as much as the next person, but sometimes it annoys me how accessible it is and how dependent we are on it.