I blame Facebook (and Twitter) for the whole "Shouting at an empty room" syndrome, only it's shouting at a crowded room. Facebook gives you the illusion of interaction when you hit the "Like" button, but that's the end of it.
The point that really drives it home is when I meet somebody from Facebook IRL and even though we "Like" so many of the same memes and have even left single-line comments on posts, we have NOTHING to talk about. On-line we had the illusion of compatibility, but out in the Real World we're still just as awkward and incompatible as ever.
Contrast that with LJ; twelve years of meeting people I met on LJ, twelve years of people I actually like and talk to IRL because we actually KNOW each other through The Internet. That's what was so great about The Internet in the first place was that all of us shy, awkward people had a chance to show what was on the inside; a place where we didn't stutter, didn't just nod and grunt at social interaction...
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The point that really drives it home is when I meet somebody from Facebook IRL and even though we "Like" so many of the same memes and have even left single-line comments on posts, we have NOTHING to talk about. On-line we had the illusion of compatibility, but out in the Real World we're still just as awkward and incompatible as ever.
Contrast that with LJ; twelve years of meeting people I met on LJ, twelve years of people I actually like and talk to IRL because we actually KNOW each other through The Internet. That's what was so great about The Internet in the first place was that all of us shy, awkward people had a chance to show what was on the inside; a place where we didn't stutter, didn't just nod and grunt at social interaction...
Facebook brings us full circle I guess?