It's got us all hooked. Seems to be the best [only] thing to when you're bored/ happy/ excited/ depressed/ feeling nothing. In short, we don't need a reason to go type facebook.com or even better, click on the bookmark, and wait in eager anticipation of seeing of how many notifications you have on your profile. If it's a mere 2-3 notifications, you're greatly disheartened, saddened.
I'm not here to batter down the site's image [bcz anyway, ten others will turn up to batter my views on it], but to just state my views on it, which is more [virtual] experience-oriented. It could be a boon or bane- people/companies/brands publicize their services on Facebook, again for the same reason, most of the regular buyers/customers/clientele are on facebook, or even just online, and once you click on the 'Like us on Facebook.', you forget why you came online in the first place. Massive amounts of investment is made on promoting brands/products on facebook. On the other hand, going beyond age old cyber crimes of hacking, today divorces, forget break-ups, happen over facebook. It is hard believing that a lifetime or years of relationships can be broken over such trivialities. What is even more surprising is the fact that people spend hours every day posting pictures, updating statuses, updating their profile, almost in a bid to make their lives seem all perfect and enviable, true; who doesn't like to present the best about themselves/ their lives to the world? And those who won't do that, seemed to have grabbed the melancholic mood for eternity, updating statuses that would, or were attempted to seek sympathy. Strangely enough, we have a bunch of faithful 'likers' for those updates too. Really, how much of time and importance can we afford to give to it? Knowing that with many of us, half of the people who're in our list, we don't interact with, ever, or the fact that lesser number of likes on our posts/pictures/anything end up making some feel almost worthless, and in turn put pressure on themselves to show the world that they're better. That's what it is about, the ostentation, the facade of portraying a fantastical life. Yes, we spend hours typing away, or merely scrolling down updates, or flipping through pictures [and not liking them so that no one can say we've been stalking them :P], we spend hours perfecting our virtual selves rather than our own lives. The very idea/option of having that 'like' button for every single thing, from a heartfelt status update to a one that is brimming with curses at someone- again trivialises our emotions, our experiences, our very lives. Really, now, can our responses to everything in life be summed up with the press of a like button?
At times, when people update their status saying something like, 'I've had the worst day in weeks today. Why are people ever bent on screwing things up in other's lives?'- you don't really know how to respond to it, you can't just go and like it. Yet there are morons who will 'like' every damn post/picture/status that comes up in the news feed, and liking a status like the aforementioned one, only goes on to show how dumb one can be at times, one thinks he's voicing his sympathy to that person, but you're only making an ass of yourself, because something that comprises two different statements which differ in their tenor, albeit are stated in succession, cannot be responded to that way- That is where Comments come handy, my friend. Only, you are too lazy to type something- not that you're in a hurry, you're just feeling lousy, yet you are on Facebook, because you have nothing to do, maybe, at the moment? There's degrees of states of slothfulness, you see! :D
But then, one can't sum up something as big as facebook and its impact on our lives, with just that much. Anything to do with Facebook, and voila, we have a pair of ears, nay fingertips, propped up. Till you're dormant there, all seems fine, you just nod away to your friends discussing away your picture that they uploaded and how many eyeballs, nay comments it fetched, and your ears pucker up at that, eventually giving away to your eventual disinterest. And once you're regular with your log-ins, it's all about notifications, new pictures that have to uploaded immediately, via mobile, so you can keep your friends updated, and receive umpteen likes, [but ask yourselves, how many of them are really interested?]. Well, a lot happens over a couple of pictures! ;) And soon it turns into mutual liking. Liking = facebook likes, btw. You like my pictures even though I look like a bloated pigeon or an injured owl in them, to rescue me, and I will like yours', in 'times of distress', or a 'like-less' atmosphere. You can't help but laugh at some pictures that people upload of themselves, or other random things, some might even make you feel a little nauseated for a while, but you go ahead and click on 'like'. Instead of hovering over our own profiles and of others' to keep a tab on who's the most popular on Facebook, going by the number of likes on their respective pictures and posts, why not log out, go outside [or stay inside, for that matter.], do something that you would like to do, not thinking if that would get you likes on facebook. Truth is, despite being aware of how Facebook-oriented our thinking becomes, as we spend more and more time over it, we only like to get further entrenched, it is too much to let go of that thrill, sheer ecstasy to see those number of notifications, and scrolling up and down to see which notifications are about comments on your posts, next in line is about the 'likes' on your posts, followed by trivial notifications. Its almost like unwrapping gifts everyday, first you grab the ones with shiny paper and colourful ribbons on em. At times, you click on 'Xyz commented on your status update' and all you see, is a ':P' ';)' and you're all disappointed.
Some one you're not really on cordial terms with in everyday encounters, his/her facebook profile gives you the chance to keep track of their latest updates, [it's something many of us can't help, much as we may hate someone, we're always up for getting to know something new about them, more so if it's something nice that happened to them, yes.] On the other hand, you may spend hours chatting with some others, with whom you can't hold a conversation more than five minutes long, when you come across them in your everyday life. I must also mention the rampant sycophancy and complaisance on the site, and all those 87 comment long comment-conversations which mostly comprise trivial nothings of :* :* and ^_^ 'heyyy, miss u too... vl mt up soon...' crap. To those people, why can't they just continue their sugar-sweet conversations on chat, and spare people who had mistakenly commented on the status, thinking, that would be it. :P =| To those who're struggling to build a fan following on facebook by resorting to such servility, people, get a life!
No denying that I too am a voluntary victim of this addiction, [no exaggerations] :D but, we all enjoy it, looking at our profiles, the profile pictures, the number of likes on each of them, trying to assess our 'popularity quotient'. I wonder what's important? The number of likes/comments we elicit through our posts on something like facebook, which did not exist when we were born, nor will exist [let's face it], a few years down the line, or a bit more, maybe? What then? It's more than a virtual apocalypse in waiting for many people, who spend their times logging in every few hours, or even minutes, or stay perpetually online, in wait for someone to 'ping' them, or a notification to pop up, what once they will suddenly have nothing to like, or get likes on, almost a ritual for them? Keeping all that I've said till now, we all know Facebook does indeed make life a tad bit easier, and even help us get a large fan base or support for important causes, or be able to publicise an upcoming event, there are groups that you can join, for instance photography enthusiasts can join groups and build their contacts with others sharing the same interest. A lot more, can be said on that actually. facebook ain't good or bad, just that one musn't get hooked to it, it's virtual, and we must remember, that we have a life! :D Also, as my friend says, that if facebook goes down, something new will come up. True! :D And guess where this conversation took place? Right on facebook, through comments on my status update about the scenario when facebook closes down. Ironical Indeed! :D
I'm not here to batter down the site's image [bcz anyway, ten others will turn up to batter my views on it], but to just state my views on it, which is more [virtual] experience-oriented. It could be a boon or bane- people/companies/brands publicize their services on Facebook, again for the same reason, most of the regular buyers/customers/clientele are on facebook, or even just online, and once you click on the 'Like us on Facebook.', you forget why you came online in the first place. Massive amounts of investment is made on promoting brands/products on facebook. On the other hand, going beyond age old cyber crimes of hacking, today divorces, forget break-ups, happen over facebook. It is hard believing that a lifetime or years of relationships can be broken over such trivialities. What is even more surprising is the fact that people spend hours every day posting pictures, updating statuses, updating their profile, almost in a bid to make their lives seem all perfect and enviable, true; who doesn't like to present the best about themselves/ their lives to the world? And those who won't do that, seemed to have grabbed the melancholic mood for eternity, updating statuses that would, or were attempted to seek sympathy. Strangely enough, we have a bunch of faithful 'likers' for those updates too. Really, how much of time and importance can we afford to give to it? Knowing that with many of us, half of the people who're in our list, we don't interact with, ever, or the fact that lesser number of likes on our posts/pictures/anything end up making some feel almost worthless, and in turn put pressure on themselves to show the world that they're better. That's what it is about, the ostentation, the facade of portraying a fantastical life. Yes, we spend hours typing away, or merely scrolling down updates, or flipping through pictures [and not liking them so that no one can say we've been stalking them :P], we spend hours perfecting our virtual selves rather than our own lives. The very idea/option of having that 'like' button for every single thing, from a heartfelt status update to a one that is brimming with curses at someone- again trivialises our emotions, our experiences, our very lives. Really, now, can our responses to everything in life be summed up with the press of a like button?
At times, when people update their status saying something like, 'I've had the worst day in weeks today. Why are people ever bent on screwing things up in other's lives?'- you don't really know how to respond to it, you can't just go and like it. Yet there are morons who will 'like' every damn post/picture/status that comes up in the news feed, and liking a status like the aforementioned one, only goes on to show how dumb one can be at times, one thinks he's voicing his sympathy to that person, but you're only making an ass of yourself, because something that comprises two different statements which differ in their tenor, albeit are stated in succession, cannot be responded to that way- That is where Comments come handy, my friend. Only, you are too lazy to type something- not that you're in a hurry, you're just feeling lousy, yet you are on Facebook, because you have nothing to do, maybe, at the moment? There's degrees of states of slothfulness, you see! :D
But then, one can't sum up something as big as facebook and its impact on our lives, with just that much. Anything to do with Facebook, and voila, we have a pair of ears, nay fingertips, propped up. Till you're dormant there, all seems fine, you just nod away to your friends discussing away your picture that they uploaded and how many eyeballs, nay comments it fetched, and your ears pucker up at that, eventually giving away to your eventual disinterest. And once you're regular with your log-ins, it's all about notifications, new pictures that have to uploaded immediately, via mobile, so you can keep your friends updated, and receive umpteen likes, [but ask yourselves, how many of them are really interested?]. Well, a lot happens over a couple of pictures! ;) And soon it turns into mutual liking. Liking = facebook likes, btw. You like my pictures even though I look like a bloated pigeon or an injured owl in them, to rescue me, and I will like yours', in 'times of distress', or a 'like-less' atmosphere. You can't help but laugh at some pictures that people upload of themselves, or other random things, some might even make you feel a little nauseated for a while, but you go ahead and click on 'like'. Instead of hovering over our own profiles and of others' to keep a tab on who's the most popular on Facebook, going by the number of likes on their respective pictures and posts, why not log out, go outside [or stay inside, for that matter.], do something that you would like to do, not thinking if that would get you likes on facebook. Truth is, despite being aware of how Facebook-oriented our thinking becomes, as we spend more and more time over it, we only like to get further entrenched, it is too much to let go of that thrill, sheer ecstasy to see those number of notifications, and scrolling up and down to see which notifications are about comments on your posts, next in line is about the 'likes' on your posts, followed by trivial notifications. Its almost like unwrapping gifts everyday, first you grab the ones with shiny paper and colourful ribbons on em. At times, you click on 'Xyz commented on your status update' and all you see, is a ':P' ';)' and you're all disappointed.
Some one you're not really on cordial terms with in everyday encounters, his/her facebook profile gives you the chance to keep track of their latest updates, [it's something many of us can't help, much as we may hate someone, we're always up for getting to know something new about them, more so if it's something nice that happened to them, yes.] On the other hand, you may spend hours chatting with some others, with whom you can't hold a conversation more than five minutes long, when you come across them in your everyday life. I must also mention the rampant sycophancy and complaisance on the site, and all those 87 comment long comment-conversations which mostly comprise trivial nothings of :* :* and ^_^ 'heyyy, miss u too... vl mt up soon...' crap. To those people, why can't they just continue their sugar-sweet conversations on chat, and spare people who had mistakenly commented on the status, thinking, that would be it. :P =| To those who're struggling to build a fan following on facebook by resorting to such servility, people, get a life!
No denying that I too am a voluntary victim of this addiction, [no exaggerations] :D but, we all enjoy it, looking at our profiles, the profile pictures, the number of likes on each of them, trying to assess our 'popularity quotient'. I wonder what's important? The number of likes/comments we elicit through our posts on something like facebook, which did not exist when we were born, nor will exist [let's face it], a few years down the line, or a bit more, maybe? What then? It's more than a virtual apocalypse in waiting for many people, who spend their times logging in every few hours, or even minutes, or stay perpetually online, in wait for someone to 'ping' them, or a notification to pop up, what once they will suddenly have nothing to like, or get likes on, almost a ritual for them? Keeping all that I've said till now, we all know Facebook does indeed make life a tad bit easier, and even help us get a large fan base or support for important causes, or be able to publicise an upcoming event, there are groups that you can join, for instance photography enthusiasts can join groups and build their contacts with others sharing the same interest. A lot more, can be said on that actually. facebook ain't good or bad, just that one musn't get hooked to it, it's virtual, and we must remember, that we have a life! :D Also, as my friend says, that if facebook goes down, something new will come up. True! :D And guess where this conversation took place? Right on facebook, through comments on my status update about the scenario when facebook closes down. Ironical Indeed! :D
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The Good, Bad and the Ugly - What's Your take on this?