Friendships are requested, accepted and broken within seconds. Links tag you to the „in“ club and comments make you popular. Of course, I am talking about facebook. The social network site is directory, picture album, business card, advertising outlet, communication tool and dating guide all in one.
No other ebook has been as effective and as widespread in linking strangers across continents. Co-workers, childhood friends, family members, celebrities, your ex, your crush, even your boss have access to your iLife and iWorld. And for the majority of us this is perfectly normal. People no longer ask us for a card or our number, they discreetly add us on Facebook. I too am guilty of this: almost every day I stalk certain pages, check out pictures and the new comments “mutual friends” have left.
So, out of the blue I decided to cut the cord and quit my online presence. Myspace and studivz were easy, hardly anyone noticed I was a goner. But Facebook? The minute I clicked on the confirmation button that nullified all e-connections and links I had built up over the course of four years, hell broke lose. Astonished, I watched as GoogleNotifier pinged me with emails. Messages along the lines of “What happened with your profile?” “You deleted me AGAIN?” “Colleen, are you alright?” flooded my inbox within the next two hours. The world was freaking out. My global neighborhood was in panic. What was happening? My leaving a social network suddenly left a void that became personal to many, and they weren’t letting me off the hook.
To make this story a short one, I am back on facebook. My friends are single, in a relationship, engaged or married. My ex added his ex-girlfriend. Two of my friends are on a diet. Christoph thanks T-mobile for its 20 dollars refund. Lutz's train is late again. Dave is on the east coast. Julia is screening her film at the Lincoln Center in New York. Josh is watching Entourage, Anna is on her way to Switzerland. And Erin thinks there should be more male Gogo dancers. Ah. The world has turned back to normal. Next time I just need to remember to cancel my email account as well…..
© Colleen Yorke. All rights reserved.