2008-06-04

More virtual space than I need...

There was an interesting article on msn.com this morning about "social networking" sites and what makes them more of a pain in the ass than a good thing.

This was semi-heartening for me to read, since believe it or not, I still struggle mightily with whether or not I should have pulled the plug on my MySpace page. It's absolutely amazing how you seem to totally fall off the face of the planet if you don't have that particular little corner of teh internetz.

Because people won't respond to regular email anymore. You have to "comment" them or bite them or tag their wall or whatever-the-fuck it is you have to do. The only reason you have an email account is so you can receive updates on what's happening with your social networking account. You get a message saying you have a message. It's all so very meta.

So on the one hand, I don't have to deal with ugly, browser-crashing customized MySpace pages created by people old enough to know better, you know, with, like, spinning ankhs and tiled fairy photos and flashing borders and eight different Photobucket slideshows of the same fucking vacation. I also don't have to sit and worry about why I'm not on someone's Top Eight, or why I'm not HIGHER UP on someone's Top Eight (and being perpetually 11-years-old, I DO worry about shit like this). Really, as emotionally crippled as I already am, having a MySpace page was like the online equivalent of Kathy Bates strapping me down and fetching the sledgehammer.

But on the other hand, it really is like being in exile. And it was nice to have all of my actual friends in one place, so to speak.

I've tried to fill the void by being a part of other "communities" that actually seem to have a purpose of sorts other than just shoving/biting/spanking each other and leaving stupid "funny" pictures. Yelp, for example, or GoodReads. But even then, I feel like I'm just collecting a bunch of auxiliary, random landing spots that, even with a specific purpose in mind, still wind up full of spammers, pissy little cliques and people who just want to have 10,492 "friends." Maybe these folks are a tad more well-read, but it just seems like it's only a matter of time before Goodreads starts allowing everyone to post pictures of, say, Brendan Behan hoisting a pint and instructing me, in glittery green script, to "have a GREAT WEEKEND!" LOL. OMG. NASCAR.

And just the other day I signed up for Twitter.com, and I'm not even sure WHY. Less is more, right? Didn't I just want to stick around this place and hope that people would remember it exists? Why am I trying to occupy more virtual space than I need to? What am I trying to prove?

I'd ask my shrink, but he barely checks his email.

lisamcc at 11:08 a.m.



6 comments so far
Spooney
2008-06-04 15:02:42
Fuck Christ I hate when my computer freezes up cuz I made the mistake of clicking on some ass-wipers page that's all blinged to shit.
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Stephen
2008-06-04 18:40:54
I don't get teh Twitter. I mean, yeah, you get to keep your friends updated all day long, but who really gives a rat's ass? I imagine most of them are along the lines of this. "Going to have a bagel." "Need to take a dump." "Just took a dump. Should I brush my teeth now, or wait till it airs out a bit?" "Opened a window and brushed my teeth." "My teeth smell like poo."
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Lexi
2008-06-06 14:13:51
OH McC, anything but Twitter!
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lj lindhurst
2008-06-06 19:04:47
myspace is a perfect example of what people who have no design sense do when they are allowed to design anything.
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LisaMcC
2008-06-06 19:44:45
Lexi - Seriously. I don't know what got into me.

LJ - that's exactly it. People tart their pages all up to hell thinking that this is reflective of their personalities, and I'm sure that they're fine, upstanding citizens and all, but their shitty HTML makes my corneas bleed.
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Jess
2008-06-11 04:55:26
I love my husband very much but sometimes I think nothing would make him happier than to have a fluorescent green & orange website that blinks. Sigh.
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