Facebook = Wastebook

Why is Facebook a waste of time?

 

Well, time is money.

 

Time spent on Facebook is unproductive.

 

Therefore, Facebook is a waste of time.

This post on Facebook would also be a waste of time and space if it were not for the need to point out 'why', etc, etc.

 

I was under the impression that life-changing news (e.g. - a baby, graduation, a first home, marriage, a grim diagnosis, loss of a loved one...) was to be shared with a group of well-wishers who would in turn take the trouble to send a card/ call/ email you, at the very least? I thought great news called for more than a cursory comment or 'like'. I mean, if they really cared and had access to email (everyone does nowadays...I hope!), then getting the message across shouldn't be a problem.

 

As for FB 'likes' and comments, people say that this is how the 20-somethings communicate - only short, abbreviated messages. Ok, point noted. What about the 30 and above crowd that is also active on FB? Does this mean their communicative abilities have regressed?

 

Here's FB's value differentiator - sharing photos...especially if one lived away from one's family. But again, there's also Picasa and Flickr, with options for making comments! Yes, I am aware that FB made some changes thanks to which you can control who sees what...still, if person B 'liked' your pic, that update could be clicked on and viewed by person C who could be a total stranger to person A. I am frankly surprised that such loopholes exist despite FB's birth in the early 2000's.

I thought FB's strong point - more than photo sharing - might have been its ability to conjure flash mobs. How useful during a revolution, a sales event, or just to make a point! Of course, only if FB were allowed during such times/ in those countries, provided one had internet access. 

 

As regards everything else...the world has become so well connected that one doesn't need FB to communicate. If you really want a good chat, nothing beats the phone (use calling cards or get a vonage connection), Skype, Whatsapp, etc.

 

So what IS FB's vision then? What it always was meant to be - a kind of club where all members imagine their online networks to be exclusive, special, genuine, and so on...and thus get a high from attracting attention. Successful attention-seeking has become the hallmark of feeling like you belong, replacing the real world, actual value of one's social influence...perfect for for kids who prefer to play online instead of making direct facial contact, while finishing assignments and projects...and to make a point about who's connected with whom (ever read comments like "I'm going to call you this w/e!", "Looking forward to our picnic at xyz"...?). Exhibitionism and exclusion at its social best.

FB is also a great place to snoop around, stalk others, collect information, and...gossip. From what I have observed, NOBODY is above this - self-appointed guardians of any faith, moderates, or radicals of any country alike. Believe me when I say this, social bullies do very well on FB. Female bullies in particular.

 

Sure, we can argue about literary fiction as also being a kind of virtual world....albeit a very lonesome one, because the reader has only fictional characters for company. Well, guess what - with literary fiction or non-fiction, one is gleaning some kind of self-knowledge and developing one's insightfulness. Some fiction is positively chockfull of information brilliantly written (Amitav Ghosh's novels, for instance).

 

With FB, one is deluding oneself by equating the traffic of online connections as actual friendships. What do you learn from them? Well, apart from who is cozying up to whom (and even that can be faked online), as proven by a German study it was heartache, jealousy, upset emotions very unlike those exhibited online. Let's face it, not everyone is one's well wisher. Which brings one to the question - how does one define a friend? Does the 'friend' need to know certain details about your life?

 

Thus I explained my decision to quit FB in Dec 2011, to a bunch of Indian and Pakistani women who could only look at my decision to quit as 'escapism' - can you believe this?? Other wise observations they made were "OMG what brought this on??", "It's only a social network!!", and the stellar "You have gone into hiding!". 

Apparently, chucking online social networking is done only by insecure and touchy folk. Ok, I AM touchy, but that's because I want something genuine and I am willing to take a stand about it. Besides, if I had something to hide wouldn't I be touching up my online life, living a sham?

 

This, from women who get their sense of self from the number of responses to their humdrum, mind numbing, immature attempts at self-promotion. Yawn. I can hear an old friend of mine - who recently moved back to India - state, "You are looking for depth in the wrong place".

A short while after having been subjected to this ridiculous round of queries, I read this news report about how people are leaving FB in droves..."FB is SO 2010!"...or so one of the quotes went. FB was a fad, and now it is old hat.