Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Facebook

Over the last few months I've given in to Facebook. I can't really say that this is the reason I haven't blogged since December. I don't actually do a lot of writing or updating on Facebook. For me it is a mostly voyeuristic enterprise. I get to see what everyone else I've ever met is up to.
Month after month I find something that surprises me or makes me think in a new way. I'm especially fascinated with the relationship status of my younger "friends." I think a Facebook app that allowed you to place bets on when a certain friends new "in a relationship" status would change to "it's complicated" or "single" would be one of the 5 most popular. Facebook gives me just enough information to let my mind write my own soap opera.

Pictures are another area in which Facebook shines. It's true that a picture is worth a thousand words, which coincidentally is about how many are in an arrest warrant. What makes an underage person post pictures of themselves and there friends drinking? Pretty soon I do not think we will have any more not-guilty verdicts because all the evidence a jury needs to see will be neatly tagged by "friends" of the defendant.

Most of the early reviews I read about Facebook focused a lot of attention on the applications. It is clear that this is a truly special part of the social networking that is missing from sharing e-mails or bulletin boards. The applications let you become a movie reviewer, or a music aficionado. You can be a trivia expert or find out if your friends know where you want to get your next tattoo (or more oddly what they think is the best part of your body). Or you can spend too many hours becoming a fake crime boss. I've had to give up a few applications already as they have been great time waisters, and Mafia Wars is next on the list.

So please send in your friend request I will be happy to know what your five favorite 80's toys are. And don't worry if you don't get all the details of your life in there. I prefer to let my imagination fill in the blanks.

2 comments:

Matthew S said...

I've noticed that you are a quick riser in the ranks of the mafia. I too was sucked into the life of crime, by my wife of all people. I decided that at some point I'll have to stop too. This realization came when I discovered that there is no end to this game.

Ken L said...

For the life of me I cannot think of why anyone, besides my wife, would want to know what I'm doing at any particular moment. That's good, because most of the time I cannot think of one think to write for my status update.