Fatty fatty facebook.
I rarely use Facebook. Myspace even less. It’s my own fault. I’ve ruined these services for myself by accepting too many friends. They have now become useless. I need a way to set levels of friends. Some people should be invited into the outer circles of my world without being given the key to my soul. I don’t value a YouTube “friend” the same as my boyfriend. Sorry, but I’m more interested in what my boyfriend has to say. At least typically… It’s too much work to customize my experience on Facebook and Myspace and in the meantime I’m overloaded with too much crap. Who are these people anyway? It’s a shame too because I’m missing out on some real connections with actual friends.
Facebook is just too fat. Every time I open it, I feel this huge weight drop on me. Oh shit, I’m gonna have to dig through a million messages to find anything important. I don’t give a fuck about who owns me as a pet or who threw what at me. It’s simple, really. I SHOULD BE ABLE TO CONTROL MY OWN GODDAMNED EXPERIENCE. I should be able to tell you what I care about and that should define how Facebook looks to me. Don’t get me started on YouTube. I can’t even bring myself to open that shit.
Email is the same. Messages are sent to these pits to die. If you need to get in touch with me right away, call me. Twitter me. IM me. Do something where you know I will receive the message in a timely manner. How did email become the de facto mode of communication? How do you know I’m checking my email? What if I don’t check it today? Then what happens to your message? How does it become my fault that I didn’t respond to your stupid email? By sending a message to the pit of death, you are making assumptions about MY behavior. You are assuming that I’m going to be checking my email today. You assume that I read my facebook messages. How am I supposed to know which email/facebook messages are worth reading? Do you really want to mix up your important message with all the spam from YouTubers?
I’m the one that has to manage all this shit. I’m the one that has to decide who to respond to and when. Why do my tools put all the power in the hands of the people sending me messages? Why do I feel powerless when I’m opening MY email/MY facebook/MY myspace?
Sorry for the rant. If I owe you an email, try calling me instead. kthxbai.
See also.
mickikrimmel on August 26th, 2008
Tags: broken, communication, email, facebook, myspace, technology
August 26th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Dump all your Facebook friends. At least the ones that aren’t real life friends. Make that your own space. If you want Facebook contact with your internet friends make a fan page. Just a thought.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
I believe that there’s a natural limit to the number of friends/acquaintances a person can maintain at any point in his or her life. Large social networking sites have fooled people into thinking that they can extend that limit, but of coarse they can’t. It’s analogous to a computer’s ability to simultaneous run multiple programs convincing people that they too can be “efficient multi-taskers”. Lack of focus, overwhelming emails, and unmanageable lists of ‘friends’ are what happen when we ignore our attentional bottlenecks and spread ourselves too thin.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:49 am
I feel the same way but the weird thing is not with social sites. I have a cell phone but I rarely answer it. Checking my voicemail is even worse. I just checked it and hitting 7 just to erase them with out listening because they are 3 months old becomes a job in its self.
E-mail is checked as frequently as I pick up my phone, Myspace, Pownce, and Facebook are places I login every few months just to confirm my Login.
Sadly for me Twitter is the primary form of communication and you can txt me directly on my phone. If someone sends me a message any other way I will reply between 3 to 8 months.
People that know have come to accept the extra layer of crap I have to put them through.
But, the extra effort they put makes it all worth it when they actually reach me. Well after they forgive me and no longer are annoyed of the “Mission” they had to go through to reach me.
Well I am done with this very long post. I just hope you moderate them first so you can decide to post it or not.
I just hate to be that long comment that everyone hates.
P.S. I like your new layout. Well it has been a while since I been here so maybe is not so new anymore. Either way I like it
August 27th, 2008 at 1:33 am
That’s what it’s come to. As the social networks and tools become more mainstream, more and more people get involved and want to be your “friend”. And with all those friend requests come the flood of emails to litter your inbox.
I have recently felt this myself, which is hard to admit because I live for this shit. But when it’s all said and done there are your friends and there are your FRIENDS. <3
August 27th, 2008 at 6:44 am
I agree, especially with email.
I hope my FB friend request didn’t cause this.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I’m feeling the same way, although I still find Facebook a useful tool for my events and groups…but it doesn’t scale, that’s for sure. Email? Well, I just want to cry anytime I open gMail.
September 7th, 2008 at 9:05 am
You can have lists of friends now in facebook.
bai.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Word.
September 20th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Chi.mp is developing something that does exactly what you are describing. Different layers for different friends. Bosses and business friends see this much … high school friends see only this much … best friends since college see more and the person in bed next to you can see it all. It’s kind of a weird URL, but you send everyone one .mp name and it sorts it from there … chi.mp is the big new thing.