Friday, January 9, 2009

The benefits of cyber socializing

The thing that I like most about social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace is the fact that you can socialize without actually socializing. People who you don’t really want to talk to that often but feel obligated to can easily be communicated with at just the click of a mouse. You can update your status so people know what’s going on and how you feel, and then if they run into you in a store or something they aren’t surprised when you are pissy because your status has already indicated your mood. I do try to change my status often so as to not seem to monotonous. It’s always either agitated, pensive, melancholy, or my personal favorite, cantankerous. Manic isn’t an option in the list of choices or I’m sure I would have picked it at least once already. You can gloat about your accomplishments and evaluate your self worth by counting the number of comments you receive. You have a multitude of insults at your disposal that you can send to friends in seconds. I’ve read some reports talking about the downfalls of social networking because it prompts you to take the easy way out instead of actually calling or visiting someone. I say that’s a crock of shit. It’s absolutely perfect for the antisocial environmentalist. It is a very green option. You are saving gas by not actually visiting your friends, saving postage and money by not getting them actual greeting cards, and saving a little bit of energy at the same time because you don’t have to recharge the battery on your cell phone as often because you make fewer calls.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

My favorite status was jedi.

peace - Rene

Pearl said...

My friends are always trying to get me to get on MySpace or FaceBook or whatever, but I think I missed the generational deadline on that one. Seems like just one more thing for me to be responsible for!
Nah. THe blog, I'll keep because it makes me look thoughtful while writing at the bar.:-)
Pearl

June Saville said...

I hope the combination of the words 'antisocial' and 'environmentalist' never become obligatory. OK - save on the gas - but let's keep people in the equation eh?
I reckon blogger gets the balance just about right - you can really get to know somebody if you take the time to chat on, or you can pass by with a casual phrase. Meets my changing moods nicely ...
June in Oz

Elle said...

Well contrary to the rest of the feedback I think this post is spot on accurate. There are so many different degrees of friendship and quite frankly, just because I don't want to call you and talk to you for 10 minutes doesn't mean I don't want you in my life! I mean come on, there are times I don't want to call my mother- that doesn't mean I dont't consider her a part of my life.

And cyber stalking (when kept to a minimum) is my guilty pleasure. And I KNOW that I am not the only one with blood on my hands on that one!

Great post! Consider me hooked.

? said...

Very true although I have never used these. Now you''ve got me thinking

Adlibby said...

I get pissed at my phone when it rings. I don't answer it... hell I don't even listen to the messages half the time. I just hate the intrusion. I would hate having one more thing "I gotta do" in life. Now blogging... for some reason this suits me well and I jump out of bed and check for comments and exciting new posts from my faves everyday. I go out into the world just enough to have something to blog about, but I am basically pretty antisocial. I'm still working on the environmentalist part. ;)

? said...

Thanks for the comment. It was good to see you.

mingus said...

I fancy this a lot because it is cheaper than using the cell phone. Sometimes, I marvel at how much I have saved in terms of the mobile charges!

Anonymous said...

A good post, i agree with you on most of the parts , but not on the last line of being able to save electrical energy, because even facebook needs electrical supply to keep their servers running. :)