Everywhere I go, people seem spread too thin, in one way or another. Not to mention online. I refuse to get facebook for this reason. It seems so shallow. I know maybe it's not always totally shallow. I guess it is what you make it. But most people have made it pretty dumb and superficial. What else could it be when you only communicate in short phrases and with pictures that show, maybe, 2% of anyone's current reality, if that. Maybe it serves as a way for people to fool themselves into believing their lives are so great... I fail to see how anyone's life could really be that great these days, with the world we are living in. Maybe life is good sometimes. Maybe there are some redeeming qualities here and there, but, come on, lets get real...
For me, writing and blogging have much more depth. Do I feel "left out" because I haven't joined the facebook bandwagon. Sometimes. But I feel this is unfair, really. Are my friends forgetting about me because they don't "see" me on facebook (because I didn't join like everybody-else-is-doing-it) Isn't this kind of, um, well, high-schoolish?
Are we to join every new trend, so as not to be left behind. This reveals more about the sickness of our culture than anything else. That's why I'm not doing it. We don't have a big flat screen TV either (among MANY other things that most people believe you just have to have, like everybody else....) I'm not gonna get one just cause everyone else is doing it... Man, the stupid pressures out there! Do we critically think about these things? The trends are growing and changing exponentially. And we're all suckers for them (many are slaves to them). The demands are increasing, but most people's paychecks aren't.... But, nevertheless most people will sacrifice a lot to keep up. Why? Because of fear... fear to not fit in. Fear of being different.( But I say it's good to be different.) Social pressure is the biggest kind of pressure, because we are social creatures... And lets not forget that the word "culture" begins with the world "cult." I don't know if this is accurate etymology (need to look into it more), but it makes one wonder...?
Tell me, have all these "advancements" improved our quality of life?
The evidence is quite the contrary.
5 comments:
i agree with you manuela
facebook and twitter has encouraged shallowness and low-commitment relationships
and the cases of adult-onset ADHD have jumped exponentially :)
and it has forever demeaned the meaning of the word friend
saddest of all: "... it has forever demeaned the meaning of the word friend"
insightful comment, Kel... thanks for sharing. I didn't know about the ADHD, but not surprised
i find that i have to be careful with my use of facebook. it can definitely suck me in and distract me from things i ought to be doing ( of course i found other things to do this before facebook). yet at the same time it has been a great tool to share pictures with my family and reconnect with old friends from high school i had fallen out of touch with.
kirk and i have been thinking a lot about when to make "large" purchases for our home. the other day he made a wonderful statement about how each thing we consider should be thought about in terms of whether or not it will aid us in serving the Kingdom of God. so we splurged and bought a lawn mower so we could mow the lot next door for Bible clubs and for the kids to play in...next maybe a dining room table that can hold more people. :)
i also wanted to say that i appreciated your post on anger. growing up i was so afraid of being angry as a sin that i had a hard time really being able to identify my emotions. marriage and working through hard stuff with kirk he's helped me to learn to express myself.
Hi Sarah W.,
Thanks for your feedback on my posts... At first I didn't totally recognized who this was from, but then I caught on!! Thanks for sharing. Life has just been teaching me to be more deliberate in the things I choose, and to give myself the time I need to do that. I have to "carve out" that time, as my friend would say, otherwise it's too easy to get swept away...
I know there's a lot of wonderful folks on facebook (considering most of the developed world is on it!! :))
but I also am aware of the big cons. I guess everyone has to weigh what works best for them. For me, it would probably be too much pressure and/ or distracting... But I think it's neat how you could find old friends through it.
So far I've faired just fine without it...!
...So have you all moved? Are you still in St. Louis?
Manuela, you know how I feel about Facebook and I think you’ve said it well. Although I do have a Facebook, like you, I think it’s pretty shallow. I much prefer the deeper relationships I’ve made through blogging as well as through several online groups. Like Kel, I find it annoying that Facebook uses the word “friend” to describe those shallow, low commitment relationships. I rarely read the status updates since I really don’t care what someone had for breakfast.
That being said, I have joined a couple of groups that I really enjoy and I even feel like I’ve made a friend or two but it was only because we share a common interest that goes deeper than the superficial.
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