This may be a blog I add more to as response to it dictates as such. I have been thinking of the pros and cons of Facebook for a while. The reading of The Facebook Effect on my Vegas flights allowed me to get more perspective on the topic.
Pros:
Contact with old friends that you actually care about
This is the the best part of Facebook. For the people we are already close to, Facebook is an extension of the friendship where people can see ridiculous posts made for liking and humor purposes.
However, there are some people you lost contact with that you actually give a crap about. You will usually find out about these people within a month or two of being "Facebook friends". You will usually have a good idea on who these people are the minute you get their friend invite or when you send it yourself.
While some high school people befriend you simply to build their "friend" list to say, "Hey Mel, I got 987 friends, you only got 684, so suck it, beotch!", there are others who were actually your friend at some point and just lost touch with as college, work, etc. got in the way.
Random check-ins
The random check-ins are my new favorite thing. The mobile app allows you to check into a place based on where your phone's GPS is. It gives you the liberty of checking into a place that is anywhere within a mile of your current location.
I love the confusion that this has caused with people who have taken the check-ins seriously. For example, I checked into a tanning place when I was at a bar around 12:30am on a Friday night. My brother was wondering to his fiance what the hell changed with me.
As you can see, the humor for this is limitless, as long as you go to different places.
Sharing humor
People have realized the limitlessness of my humor through Facebook. While I remain humble on the subject, I can't help but agree. I believe people's true personalities are shared through their statuses in the long run of posting. We will all have our ups and downs in life, but what people share with the world in general is the type of person they are. Any time I can make people laugh or someone can make me laugh, I feel like Facebook has accomplished something good.
Cons:
Detail Ad Nauseum
I don't need to know every single detail about what you are doing. You're brushing your teeth? Fantastic - your dentist should be happy.
Your mom cooked you spaghetti? Yippee! Glad to hear you won't starve to death. Actually, I take that back.
Not to say I'm not guilty of pointless statuses. But when you're doing things you should be doing already, I don't need to hear about them.
Fake Enthusiasm
I know this is a prevalent thing. I'll post a status about something (for example, I haven't been this happy in forever). And while I believe that most people who respond to this (and those who don't) are genuinely happy, some people "like" the status without giving 2 thoughts to it.
This also goes to "Happy Birthdays" from people you never speak to or that really wouldn't make an effort to actually go out for a birthday drink (or for some other occasion). While it seems polite to wish someone a happy birthday, if you're saying it because you think I want to hear it, then you are mistaken. Honestly, I'd rather hear it in person or through a call. This more applies to the fringe friends. My family and close friends, I know actually care to say those words to me - regardless of whether I hang out with them on my birthday. I'm guilty of saying Happy Birthday to people that I never see, but for the most part, I try saying it to people that I am in a position to say Happy Birthday to.
Odds are, if you are reading this blog, these things don't apply to you. We probably at least have a shot of hanging out at some point in our lives, whether it be in the next month or the next year.
Also, I'm sure I do the pointless posts as much as the next guy, so no need to call me a hypocrit. I am well-aware of it. I think we all do it from time to time. But it's the people who do it all the time that are who I am referring to here.
I'm sure there's more to this, and I'm sure I'll add more to it. Please add your own "likes" and "unlikes" about Facebook. I wrote this up quickly to get something out there and wanted to touch on my main points of happiness/disgust.
Good night folks.
And also, I'm no longer single. You better "like" that, if you're my "real" friend.
