Facebook and Social Networking

I recently had a chance to comment on a friends blog about how “weird” and “fake” Facebook is. This was my retort:

What’s more odd than Facebook to me is the fact that you analyze how odd Facebook is. I see this over and over again. People talking about online communities as if they are an alternate reality. Or how socially weird they are. Some people, like my aunt, are downright frightened of them. Truth is, they’re as real as your neighbor and as odd as them too. And what’s more, they’re here to stay, only to develop more “realness” as technology develops. Resisting them is akin to halting evolution. It’s human destiny to augment our reality and merge with machines. Facebook, and the internet in general, are first baby steps in a larger leap towards a heightened human self awareness. Sounds crazy/scary, right? But this merger just may make us more human, as we currently define it, in the end.

If you’re so concerned with people from your deleted past rekindling an unwanted relationship, I’d ask why would this concern you? It’s no different than meeting them in grocery store after 10 years. You know, you’d say 10 words to them and never see or talk with them again. Facebook’s the same way. You accept their friend request and then never speak. I’d say Facebook is even more betterer in the fact that you don’t have to accept the request in the first place, thus negating any awkward 10 word conversation.

I could go on and on about the growing global consciousness, the genius of twitter and human augmented intelligence, but you probably think I’m already weird enough to delete me… So, while I appreciate a solid griswald reference more than most, I must disagree with your overanalysis and hesitation to use a form of communication such as Facebook. Once you realize that Facebook IS life, no different from the one you recall just some short years ago, you may be in a better place to embrace it.

So yea, party on Facebook.