Alone on The Internet

[captain_slinky]

I'm so tired of the monosyllabic grunting and nodding of FaceBook. Three-Hundred-And-Fifty "Friends" over there giving the illusion of connectivity when all we're actually doing is reposting memes and clicking "Like", maybe if you're in a particularly talkative mood you can reply with a "LOL" or "NICE!" before scrolling on to the next meme. Even original posts, stuff that people took the time to writ out and share with the world, is only a line or two at the most for fear that everybody will scroll right past it because it's too long.

I miss *writing*, and I miss READING what other people WRITE. I miss the back-and-forth dialogue. I miss jumping in to a thread and making new friends. I miss challenging friends to write! In short, I miss LIVEJOURNAL. I think everyone has forgotten how to communicate, in favor of just trying to make sure their voice is among the loudest in the room.

Amazing how alone these "Social Network" sites can make you feel, isn't it?

Comments

[pete23.livejournal.com]

LIKE.

Ahem, in a more LJ style, I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately for me, LJ has become pretty much ranting to an empty room. And so I've pretty much stopped doing it.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

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...

Facebook brings us full circle I guess?