Sunday, July 27, 2008

My One Man Crusade Against Social Retardation

As some of you know, Ive been clean of myspace/facebook for about a month now. "Egads!" You might say. "Why on earth would you do something so crazy as to remove yourself from such wonderful online networking tools?" Well.......let me try to say it in a two word phrase. Socially Callous. That is what I believe society today has become thanks to the constant pushing of all these social networking sites. Think about it, the word "friend" has nearly lost its original meaning thanks to these abominations. It used to mean someone you have some sort of meaningful contact with, or someone who holds some position of importance in your life. Now its just a word for someone you clicked a button to accept an invitation from. Or the word you attach to some vague face on an ever growing roster that you gaze at a million times a day to get an ego boost over how many "friends" you have.

Thats one reason why I chose to remove myself from those sites, but there are a few more. They promote laziness, they are potentially addicting (sad I know, but ive seen this scenario with my own eyes), and believe you me, Ill scream if I see another advert from kissyface21 asking me if I want to chat. I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR SKANKY SINGLES SITE......Regardless of how much cleavage you sport in those things.

Now dont get me wrong, as with most things, there is always the exception to the rule. Some people hop on myspace/facebook because it allows them to communicate and keep in touch with people they might otherwise not be able to. But I believe such individuals are small in number. You can keep in touch with anyone, anywhere, provided you put forth the effort.

This whole situation is rather frustrating because most of Utah is wired into facebook, and if you want to be kept abreast of whats going on you have to log in as well. Or so some would think. Im working my hardest to network the old fashioned way, by word of mouth, through phone calls and to a lesser extent, text messages because doing so helps one to be more proficient in social situations (i.e. dating in my case). So off I go, armed only with my common sense and stubborn attitude.


~Jamie

Fighting the good fight

6 comments:

Emily P. said...

Hey Jamie!
So i read your "four" blogs in the past year and a half, and i have yet to see pictures. I hope you are doing well! :)

jeannesioux said...

Hi Jay,
That is one of the best things that I have read in a long time!!!!
Does this mean that you are getting old like the rest of us?
Love, Sister Pack

Dani said...

AMEN! I think so many people are loosing basic social skills because they avoid face to face contact and do all communication through electronic means. people you have a phone, you call people on it and talk! Stop with the hundreds of text messaging back and forth! Yes I have a facebook account (myspace is trash) and I do have acquaintances that i would other wise never call but like to know what they are up to and occasionally bat a few sentences back and forth. It's faster then the post for a simple letter and sometimes very convenient for friends who live far away or have work schedules so different from my own that it aids us in a relationship we'd hate to weaken. We need to be more personal! Show your friends that they are true friends! I'm proud of you Jamie!

El Fro said...

Me thinks you need to post more. Yes Please.

Love, Brother Pack

Bryan Tanner said...

I find this online encounter, Jamie, ironic for two reasons:

1) You and I are bloggers. We claim to have meaningful conversation with each other online, when in reality, we are not even sure anyone is reading them. That's about as impersonal as it gets.

2) I found your blog on facebook.

See you at dinner club tonight.

Jessica said...

I love this post Jamie, however it's three years later and you're on facebook! Has dating come down to this stupid social networking...say it ain't so!