Curiosity is killing the Cat
Call me what you like but I love computers, the internet and thanks to our latest module in JMS1, blogging. My interest in social networking all started in grade 11 when my best friend Emma and I discovered the joys of MySpace. It wasn't blogging per se but I soon found myself spending more and more time fiddling with the layout and what I now know to be called widgets. Imagine my excitement when I heard about Facebook - so maybe you couldn't have awesome layouts but hey, what's better than easily keeping in contact with friends? I eagerly searched for my friends overseas to see how they had changed since I saw them last. It was fabulous - seeing photos taken all over Europe, finding long lost class mates and especially now I'm at varsity, being invited to all sorts of events.
The realities of a virtual presence begin sinking in after the honeymoon phase however. Being in a small high school made it that much easier to keep track of everyone, their relationship status and the dirty laundry that emerges. "Did you see their status on Facebook?", "I can't believe they broke up!" and "There was a picture of them looking cosy" soon becomes the talk of the town and if it's not at home in Knysna, it is on campus in Grahamstown.
Sure, you might get a million birthday wishes but of course everyone will remember when they can see it on their homepage! Despite mocking the pouty, make-up smothered girls on MySpace, I also became conscious about the "image" of my profile. Untagging photos of yourself may seem petty but then again why would you want unflattering pictures pasted on the web? Or people chatting to you when you simply want to browse the web in peace?
When I first started blogging I felt a bit overwhelmed by the possibilities of a highly critical audience when in actual fact Facebook is exactly the same. Are my not-so-friendly friends on Facebook judging me, my pimple and my crooked smile? Nasty profiles like "GossipGirl Rhodes" get started and accounts are hacked into. I also am not the hugest fan of what seem like cutesy "who can have the lamest status" competitions.
Be that as it may, I still religiously log onto Facebook in the mornings with a big cup of coffee. Maybe it makes me a hypocrite, I don't know. But I certainly agree with Sept that curiosity is killing the cat.
The realities of a virtual presence begin sinking in after the honeymoon phase however. Being in a small high school made it that much easier to keep track of everyone, their relationship status and the dirty laundry that emerges. "Did you see their status on Facebook?", "I can't believe they broke up!" and "There was a picture of them looking cosy" soon becomes the talk of the town and if it's not at home in Knysna, it is on campus in Grahamstown.
Sure, you might get a million birthday wishes but of course everyone will remember when they can see it on their homepage! Despite mocking the pouty, make-up smothered girls on MySpace, I also became conscious about the "image" of my profile. Untagging photos of yourself may seem petty but then again why would you want unflattering pictures pasted on the web? Or people chatting to you when you simply want to browse the web in peace?
When I first started blogging I felt a bit overwhelmed by the possibilities of a highly critical audience when in actual fact Facebook is exactly the same. Are my not-so-friendly friends on Facebook judging me, my pimple and my crooked smile? Nasty profiles like "GossipGirl Rhodes" get started and accounts are hacked into. I also am not the hugest fan of what seem like cutesy "who can have the lamest status" competitions.
Be that as it may, I still religiously log onto Facebook in the mornings with a big cup of coffee. Maybe it makes me a hypocrite, I don't know. But I certainly agree with Sept that curiosity is killing the cat.
Posted by Megs
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1 comments:
I completely agree love. At first it was fine and then it just became a monster. I'm always kind of hoping it will turn out ok again because I got addicted to it long time ago.
I'm thinking of just erasing relationship info altogether so that I don't get fake sympathy if I do break up with my boyfriend. No one actually cares, they're just nosy for gossip.
Thanks for linking love ;)
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