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

[aurora77]

They're so full of noise with so little content. I don't use Facebook at all anymore. Google Plus is only marginally better, with people actually writing things sometimes, at least. I miss the way LJ used to be, too.

[penelopes-web.livejournal.com]

I think I get something out of both - but I agree, there is a lot more conversation here...but then again there also seems a lot more deception here as well - the internet is a weird place. :/

[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.

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

Facebook has always been more about the pictures. LJ is more about the words. Kind of like the difference between newspaper comics and novels. Both have their place.

[tfcocs.livejournal.com]

Ahem? What was that? You are NOT alone!

For me, the memes go over there, instead of here like they used to back in the day;. That gives this venue more space for writing!

[xerhino.livejournal.com]

Plus their pathetic icon/avatar system only allows for a single static image, not the plethora of images we use to illustrate our mood or topic here on lj. If I want to post something with a thematic image on fb it changes *all* of my posts to use that image. Bah!

[dagna76.livejournal.com]

OMG!! I JUST wrote about this on my FB, and got quite the backlash for it. How dare I question the use of nothing but meme communication! This is some transhumanism, NWO stuff, I swear.

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

I actually like Facebook. I have an overwhelming number of family and friends that are there and not here. Yes, there is a lot of meme poisoning. But my personal chatting with people I know is far above what it was here when LJ was at its height. I don't meet many new people on FB but I never did on LJ either. I don't use either for that. Over 90% of the people on my FB list are people I know in the real world.

Yes, LJ is a far superior blog platform. I have a blogspot account for that and more people read it than anything I post on LJ. Again, this is because LJ is dead. I was sorry to see how poorly LJ adapted to the rise of Facebook and Twitter.

At this point my friends feed here consists of a bunch of webcomics and you. I never see anyone else post. I rarely leave comments because I forget to check back into the conversation because the notification system rarely updates properly. It is a feature on FB that I like a lot (no pun intended). If Livejournal were alive and vibrant again I would gladly be here. But for all its faults Facebook is alive and adaptive and filled with people I know.

[greenpear.livejournal.com]

Facebook is very shallow. Most people you communicate with have passing similar interests but that's where it ends. And the entries are more like little bite-sized nuggets that never quite fill you up.

I haven't been that active here lately with the change in life/job situation but I still enjoy reading the post here better.