Facebook...ugh

So today I'm in a particularly social media-y mood. I go in and out these phases of being inspired to make my mark on the social media world of personal news and opinion. But as much as I'd like to amass some kind of online community with whom I can have conversations, I can never seem to find or make the time to maintain any kind of regular schedule. 

None-the-less, I get these moods every once and a while. And it's funny, because every time I do, I become inspired to get my blog off the ground, to maybe try my had at some YouTube vlogs of some kind, and Twitter becomes incredibly enticing for some reason. Now, the strength of those feelings always varies a bit, but there is one notion that is always seems to remain consistent—especially on these inspired days: I hate Facebook. 

In general, I think it’s pretty safe to say that just about everybody who has a Facebook hates it on some level. And on most days—despite the fact that I waste probably about an hour a day on Facebook (let’s be honest, many days are much more that that)—I am at the very least annoyed by it. But like every other member of my generation, I still upload my pictures, update my status, message people about other people, and yes, despite how much I despise my News Feed being cluttered with requests and score updates, I even play the occasional game or two. In many respects, Facebook has become so integrated into the way our virtual world works that, I feel, that everyone feels obligated to use it whether it’s because they see it literally everywhere or simply because “everyone else is doing it.” 

I was going to get into how Facebook was “better in the early days,” but you know, we’ve all heard that argument dozens of times. So I’m not even going to approach that horse. But what I will say is that Facebook seems to have turned into a magnet of negativity. I would go as far as to say that 60-90% of the posts on my News Feed at any given time are all to the tune of bitching about something. Some are political, others are work-related, and some are just straight-up complaints about how tired they are feeling at that particular moment. Now don’t get me wrong, I will be the first to admit that I have been guilty of every single one of those—and more! But putting those posts on Facebook (or any social media service, for that matter) never made me feel better, and why should I force my moments of negativity on my friends (because, after all, it is only our “friends” that we have on our Facebook, right?)? So I have recently adopted the simple, tried and true philosophy that if I don’t have anything good or beneficial to say, then I won’t say anything at all. Unfortunately, that refuses to be the case for the majority of posters on my News Feed—and I know I’m not alone! 

Ok, so how is Twitter any different? It is definitely true that Twitter can lend itself quite easily to the complaints of day-to-day life that I was just talking about. That being said, Twitter also has the ability to give you what you want out of it. Unlike Facebook, you aren’t obligated to be “friends” with people you know in real life. Instead you follow the people who post things that align with your interests. And while Twitter easily allows for meaningless posts, it—by nature—is also just as good for sharing information in a very simple and concise way. Its character limit on posts simply doesn’t allow for any bullshit. Being a man of opinion, I love discussion, debate, and the sharing of new information. While Facebook has proven to be little more than a closed circuit of the same people who aren’t contributing anything to the virtual world other than taking up space—myself included, other social networks like Twitter and YouTube and the blogosphere provide a potential medium for real sharing to take place far beyond the reach of my “friends” on Facebook. To say that I find the kind of discussion and debate on such a relatively grand scale attractive would be a bit of an understatement—especially today in this mood that I’m in. 

I have, by no means exhausted everything I could say about this topic, but I am going to wrap this up with one final thought. In fact, I'm going to flat-out make a prediction that, in about 5 or so years, Facebook will not exist in all its glory of today. I am certain it will still be around, but I feel that, already, people are leaving Facebook for other options. Overall, Facebook is still gaining members, for sure! As of just this week, Facebook has broken the 1 billion mark of monthly active users. But I guarantee this won't last forever. With the current "business agenda" that Facebook has adopted as well as all of the negative "privacy" issues that are also involved, that number will plateau (and decline) fairly soon. But we will just have to wait and see for sure!

I am curious what you think about it, though. So if you find yourself bored and looking for something to take up some of your over-abundant free time, feel free to start and/or join the discussion! After all, that is the true power of social media!