The great farce of Social Media 'lol'

Its all a little hard to believe. This communal new media - social interaction thing. How hard we have fallen to its nuances... we are rude if we dont 'brb' mid convo, or if we dont hit that 'confirm friend' button on Facebook. It goes on and on. Txts, msgs, IMs, emails... yadda yadda

We have all given in to a greater or lesser extent. But this much is for sure. Ignore it at your own peril. Getting involved in social networking is like opening a cemetery; once you start it theres no stopping it. People of course get so pissed off too. I had a guy shouted across the street at me the other day; "thanks for not adding me"... some kid I bumped into probably twice in my 6 years at St. Joes. Hard to believe hes pissed. Yet he is.

Of course, there are others who position themselves well in this new space. A great example, and one I point to often are those insufferables who leave up away messages or IM information; vague enough to confuse most people but specific enough to affect one or two people who may or may not be bothered to check the status. Just now there is one up.. on my buddy list.. alot of it is pretty bitter too..

And so we all play the game. I have a vague idea as to whom that may be directed.. but honestly.. who gives a shit?! That person's whole buddy list are privy to those lines. This is how they want it! The muted attention seeker.

Better again, our relationships are defined by these degrees. "IN AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP" or "ITS COMPLICATED". God forbid you would leave that area blank on your profile... then its this great case of 'what has this person got to hide!?'. Or worse, that you might take your relationship status down in a quarell! HEAVENS. How did we live before this...

Which is a nice prologue to my last point; and I maintain this adamantly. Human beings, as bio-organisms, are simply not smart enough for the social technology we have been force fed and marketed over the past 3 decades by the likes of Steve Jobbs and the IT geeks in silicone valley. Keeping your text inbox, email inbox, Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Msn or AOL accounts in line with daily living must be a job in itself! Look at the 2 ends of the spectrum. The divulger and the recluse. The divulger quickly gets tied up in people misinterpreting or making fun of them- because they wanted to broadcast their business to the hoarding masses on the http//: universe - and even those who are highly privacy conscious dont survive this media. They are cast upon with suspicion. Theres no winning!

Just now - as I have written these last few lines I have been vehemently attacked by one irate IMer who spun out because I said I found emotional quotes amusing and had it in my buddy info (along with several others'; it had something to do with friendships). Uncharacteristically, they feels very strongly about it; and made that clear in her language just now. Needless to say I have lost a 'buddy'. I honestly never expected such a reaction.. but it just goes to show.. this stuff matters.

I have taken it down in any case, so as not to offend further- and maybe spare myself the frowny faces on the IM window. >:(

Until next time.
Neil