Facebook has long irritated me. The only thing that has really kept me involved in it has been pictures. I like them...who doesn't? really? But even that's becoming a problem that I will address later. My first longstanding irritation has been the deeper issue of long lost communication. People used to pick up a phone or send off an email in order to catch up with old friends. This has now been replaced by what is being termed as "lurking" or "creeping". And that's exactly what it is. People no longer actually communicate with each other. In our society of instant gratification we would rather be instantly updated on peoples lives by a short 146 character status update via facebook or the loathsome twitter (which by the way should be called "twitting" instead of tweeting"). Why would I ask how a new friends relationship is going when I could just "lurk" on his wall, see his pictures and view pretty much anything to get the information I need. Essentially I have reduced my friendship to the level celebrity tabloid. I long for the conversation, be it the deep theo-philosophical ones that last till 3AM or just a quick gab over a coffee and slice of pie.
Secondly facebook has become the home to a Nietzhcheian phenomenon I like the call "The Denizens of Mediocrity". This is the idea that once someone receives public access to all unfettered the world will be flooded with the mundane and normal. While I don't necessarily agree with this, facebook does tend to lend this idea some amount of credibility. Especially when it comes to the world of pictures. I know some people on facebook who have 2,000 pictures of themselves tagged. Now I love pictures (of both the personal and artistic variety) as much if not more than the next guy, but its getting pretty ridiculous. When a friend goes to their cottage for a weekend I don't need to see 500 pictures of their lounging on the dock style events. It makes me wish digital photography was never invented. Remember going on a family vacation and your mom or dad would only bring 2-3 rolls of film, and those 72-86 pictures had to last a full 7 days in some exotic or exciting locale? I don't need to see everything you do all the time. Again this links to my first issue. Lets get together and share pictures, at the very least a conversation on msn and send me the pertinent ones.
Facebook is also the bastion of information...to much of it at that. As Dave Stone of the Dave Stone Limited mentioned the other day, facebook is replacing the basic tenants of information.
A status update and a comment section have become our marriage counsellors. Mediated communication becomes our main course of communication.The public forum has become a place for individuals to work out their personal issues with each other. This is not acceptable. All it does is drag dark issues into the light needlessly. Many friendships and relationships have been aggravated by facebook (largely due to unexplained snapshots into peoples lives leading to jealousies and misunderstandings), and then the issues either get blown out of proportion or publicized and as a result chaos and anger ensues. Why would I continue to allow a form of communication that perpetrates so much anger continue to be a presence in my life?
Lastly Facebook has become a corporate whore. Since selling a portion of their site, it has become ripe with adds, bots and spam. I'm tired of getting emails catering to applications I've added or my personal interests listed on my profile.
For the longest time I tried to salvage facebook by routinely purging "friends" and keeping it only to people I keep in regular contact with, but no more of that either. Why should I continue to solve a problem half-assedly? On Sunday night I will delete my facebook account and return to old fashion email. Goodbye facebook...so long.
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