(sic) Just when you thought that you had cut yourself off from the barrage of advertising and viral marketing that the internet exposes us too, Facebook has us all hook, line and sinker, view SMH article Ad Nauseum. The fact that out emotional vocabulary has been whittled down to text smilies, pokes and the for the very sentimentally sophisticated, Superpokes is irritating enough but when you get marketers and corporations (oooh, those corporations!) capitalising on that as well, it makes me nostalgic about Modern Life B.FB (before-FaceBook), circa last year.
FB is essentially a de-socialising network utility, that allows people to market their meagre social interactions online and nothing more. One colleague told me of how he was disappointed by an ex-girlfriend well-wishing his Birthday via his ‘Fun Wall’. It was a pointless and confusing gesture, an ambiguous message that either meant, “I’m thinking about you but I don’t have any time to make an effort to contact you personally” or “F*** you, I don’t have any time for you anymore but I just want you to know, I don’t have any time for you anymore.” Pre-FB she would have had to call him, email him or meet him or simply acknowledge the fact that she didn’t give a damn and go about her business as per usual.
Previously, you would have had to remember someone’s birthday personally or at least write it down in your diary, then you would have to contact them by email or telephone and wish them ‘Happy Birthday’ and probably ask to catch up or see if they were doing anything to celebrate. Then there would be the trepidation of wondering if they had time to celebrate with you or the excitement of organising something together. Occasionally, the onset of this annual anniversary brings upon some a severe attack of depression, so you would have to console them on getting old and not worrying about life passing away too soon etc.
Real-life ‘socialising’ can be dangerous and thrilling. Finding out if people like you and want to spend actual time with you is rewarding but it can be disappointing when the desire to make friends is not mutual. There’s something brutally honest about real-life relations. You can’t simulate them online and for many of us, who are becoming reliant on such ‘utilities’, life is becoming a really pale simulation of itself, framed by one’s computer monitor.
On that thought, if you haven’t yet received the invite for the next Workshop Showroom event, you can log-in to FB, join the group, add me as your friend, RSVP (or apologise sincerely for not attending because you are holidaying on a yacht off the Greek Islands) and post some fabulous images of yourself to the wall. ;)
XXX
C
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