Ahhh....Facebook....perhaps the most important creation of the 21st Century.
It's popularity has grown from the depths of exclusive Ivy League clubs to the computers of individuals everywhere in the entire world. But why?
Why is Facebook so damn appealing?
Is it because we like to meet new people?
Nah, I don't think so. I mean most of the friends you talk to on Facebook are your friends in the 'real world' anyways. In fact most of the friends I talk to on Facebook were my existing friends far before Facebook was even created.
Is it because Facebook is a strong business tool?
Many could say yes because well, it is. However, so was Myspace and no one gives a damn about Myspace anymore. To say Facebook is a good marketing tool is true, but in comparison to all the other substitute services the world deals with on a daily basis, I would say this is far from the answer we're looking for.
We could sit here all day listing appealing characteristics of the Facebook experience, but in my eyes it comes down to one thing:
Our current generation is afraid of personal interaction or any relationship that could even be considered sensual or emotionally satisfying.
Allow me to explain...
When interacting with someone in person there are certain risks that one must take in order to achieve any rewards in a that relationship; whether romantic, platonic, or otherwise. To fall in love with some one we must risk hate. To make someone laugh we must risk embarrassment. To attempt any communication is to risk some sort of MIS-communication. This is why Myspace eventually failed. Myspace became far too personal, far too exploited, and of course far too cluttered. Each Myspace profile was cluttered with music, pictures, videos, personal profile layouts, and endless other personalization tools.This sounds great but remember, attempting to communicate always involves the risk of mis-communicating. What was once a fun way to express yourself, became a bulletin board for people to judge your life and show off your flaws.
Facebook works because there is virtually NO RISK!! Especially in the early days of Facebook there was little to be found on one's profile that would make them look significantly different when compared to another person. Clean interface with only basic information available to the viewer. Facebook has followed the Myspace model a little bit by adding games, gimmicks, and worthless applications however it still remains impersonal (despite an attempt to create personal communication haha). Twitter has gone even farther down the path to impersonal communication and thus we see it's popularity sky rocketing.
So, why is Facebook so awesome?
Because our generation is full of impersonal drones that want to speak their opinion to the world without being judged in a blatantly obvious manner. Say whatever you want on Facebook and if you don't like the responses you get....fuck it...delete them. You don't like a particular person? Fuck it...delete them. The world is available on Facebook, and yet the real beauty of it, is that with Facebook you're able to ignore the world and block out anything you don't want to hear.
So because we're all a bunch of social pussies who can't stand the risk of real social interactions we've created a slippery slope towards a machine driven society.
With all that said I've been on Facebook for 3-4 years now and I fucking LOVE IT!!! hahaha
