Submerged in Facebook

Okay, yes, the last panel is a bit raunchy, but I was stumbling the other day and this came up and I couldn't help but think of this class. I normally hate rage comics, but I thought this was very smart. It really makes you rethink the definition of progress. It also makes me rethink how important digital literacy is. Who knows, classes like this might be required of high school age kids in a few years. In a world where almost anything could be done from a computer, being digitally literate is becoming an essential skill. I realize this is a "well-duh" concept for those in the class, but I think this is what recovering alcoholics would refer to as "a moment of clarity." My generation's complete submersion in the internet continues to astound me every day. I hear people talking about getting rid of their Facebook, and how on the first week, they're already loving the life they lead without Facebook. They love not being tied down to viewing everyone's documented thoughts and playing stupid Zynga games and like being able to live lives in which they are not battered with a barrage of useless information. If anyone needs to get a hold of them, they can do it through the phone. To be quite honest, if people want to get a borderline instantaneous response from me, they simply have to send me a quick message on Facebook. With that little red notification tab at the top beckoning me to check it, I can't resist and all of the sudden that little flag has jumped to the top of my priority list. I have to admit, and existence where an online profile doesn't dictate what's important in my life sounds nice. But I hear people talk about it, and I have resigned myself to the fact that I simply can't do it. I would never be able to hack it. I would be so curious about what's going on with the people I care about. Now I have to admit, some of the posts and other content I don't give a rat's arse about. In fact, a few weeks ago I did a major culling of Facebook friends who were blowing up my feed with ridiculous posts of all kinds, and that took some of the pressure off.

But to say something in defense of Facebook, it is a great way to keep in contact with people who you don't get to see very often. I have a friend who just had a baby. I don't get to see her and the baby very often, but I use Facebook to keep up on how she and baby Rowan are doing, and it makes me miss her less. I don't think that anyone really needs to use Facebook any more or any less, but rather just be conscious of the content you're viewing and the content that you post. My biggest fear has always been that Facebook will morph into Myspace. And while I don't think that it could ever get that bad again, I see more and more similarities every day.