The Social Junkwork

“I have seven hundred plus followers on Twitter. I am unfortunately lacking on Facebook, where I only have a measly 170 friends.” As I write this I don’t know whether to laugh or to be sick from my joke of a quote. This growing epidemic of approval in oneself has gone too far, and I have come to pull the plug on the Social Network! No, not the film; The Academy Awards pulled the plug on it last year at the Oscars when they awarded ‘The Kings Speech’ Best Picture. I am speaking directly to the people out there who embrace the thought process and lifestyle of my faux quote at the start of this post. Friends are a wonderful gift in life we are able to enjoy. A friend, at least a true one, is there for you at all times in your journey through life, the good and of course the bad. Before I move forward, if your friend isn’t a true friend then what would he/she be considered? A fake friend? An imaginary friend? I understand that not all “facebook friends” need to represent meaningful and lasting relationships, but unless you’re two years old and in diapers, you may want to ask yourself why you have a “fake” friend involved in your life. Back to the discussion at hand, I am not here to judge any of you, but if you have seven hundred friends on Facebook, and brag as if it’s a trophy that you have received, where in life will that get you? It sure won’t land you a job at a law firm, a bachelors degree in literature, or even a cash register spot at McDonalds. “Would you like friends with that, I mean fries with that!” It will not get you a meaningful relationship with anyone in this world, nor will it truly fulfill any of your desires you crave. I understand that we, as all humans do; want to feel accepted, want to feel loved, and want to feel special. But I reckon that our society can do better than a statistic of how many YouTube views they had, or how many people tweeted them. These are silly things to spend time worrying/thinking about. Stats do not equal long term happiness in your life. If you have an argument against this statement, you probably have one of those “fake” friends I was speaking about earlier. I don’t wish for this to come across as a bash against social networking, which in all honesty would be ludicrous seeing as I have written and posted this blog on a social network. There are many great tools a social network provides! Connecting with your family/friends long distance, business opportunities, meaningful and well written blogging (as you are reading right now), the pure fun of being able to brag about my skill in writing, all of these are in my opinion great ways to take advantage of the world of social networking. Asking ‘donfatman’ for a thumbs up on your YouTube comment, irritating folks on twitter for a ‘follow back’, and ‘Like my status’ post however; do not fall in the above category. I hope you enjoyed my own view and opinion on the exciting, yet at many times immature world of social networking. And for those of you who did not; I wish you a good day, and multiple ‘likes’ on your innovative mirror pose picture on your facebook page!