I had watched The Social Network recently. I personally did not enjoy the movie for my usual reasons (lack of hand to hand combat, no one died, no zombies, etc.) but there were certainly some good things in it. I thought it did a great job depicting how Facebook was built on sin, lies, and deception. Even better, it demonstrated how quickly a seemingly small innovation could revolutionize our daily lives.
It’s okay. It scares me too.
I don’t think there’s any denying that many of us use Facebook on a regular basis. In fact, I have it open on another tab as I’m writing this. You may be doing the same thing. I’m not saying that we need a support group for this. Well, maybe we do; I’m just not saying it.
This lone website has found its way into my everyday routine. It is the first and last website that I check out. I mindlessly scroll down my news feed just to get a sense of what is going on in my circle of “friends.” I’m always thinking of the best possible statuses that would yield the most feedback. Even when I take a break from it, I peruse sites like Lamebook that exploit the hilarious blunders that people make on Facebook. I even watched that aforementioned movie about it.
But after some thought, I have discovered something about myself:
I don’t like Facebook.
I get annoyed at constant invitations for apps that I don’t care about. I hate reading the garbage that pops up on my news feed (I do it anyway). I don’t like the fact that the creator of the website ripped off the idea from his classmates. I can’t stand that Facebook bullies smaller websites around if they happen to sound a little like the word “Facebook.” I dislike that they bought the Drop.io website and then killed it. I contemplate deleting my Facebook account nearly on a regular basis.
Yet I still use it.
I developed a need for this unique sense of cohesion to my friends. I have too many connections to important people on my profile, personally and professionally. Although I am a man, I admit that I hold a high sentimental value to my profile. I don’t want to simply delete all of the memories that I’ve documented. I just can’t throw any of these things away.
Remember how I said that it would revolutionize our lives? It has done so by becoming a part of our identities. The first time that you have ever said, “Facebook me,” you subconsciously identified the website as a part of your person. Your profile is a cyber “you.” Because of this, a thought in the back of my mind that tells me that if I deleted my profile then people will forget about me.
In the end, it’s not hard to realize just how much this website has changed social beliefs. Just think about how it affects you every single day. I may not agree with the business practices of the website, but then again, it doesn’t matter. I still use it just the same.
Despite my cathartic ramblings, it is obvious that the more I talk about how much I dislike it, the more of a hypocrite I will have become. At this point, I think it will be smarter for me to save face and shut up.
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