Well, today I thought I'd actually put together a real blog post, not one filled with links and media. So, in thinking about it, I originally had no idea what to write about. I'm in a "blah" state of mind really. For the past few weeks really, I've had a difficult time caring about much of anything outside of the family bbq we had a while back. I don't care to watch tv, play games, get out and exercise, go to work even. I've still managed to do all, but not with the usual vigor one generally associates with doing such activities. (Yes, even work, I generally like going.)
Then it struck me. I open up my wonderfully filled "igoogle" homepage, and what slaps me in the face but a bunch of useless jargon on people's facebook status updates and their twitter tweets. Yes, there are a bunch of updates that say how people love their kids and nicely placed birthday wishes, I follow mostly sports reporters on twitter so it's not near as bad there either. But is there a need to talk about getting out of the shower, eating toast, and feeding the dog?
Facebook and Twitter aren't all bad mind you. They are great places to network, set up social gatherings, post photos of meaningful events, or to even get the word out on humble blogs. :P Even though I loath to admit it, I do check both daily and regularly throughout the day on breaks and such. It's mindless and time passing. I do check out people's wedding and party photos, I scan through the interesting links provided for entertainment. Lots of fun stuff has come out of facebook. I was first truly introduced to "Mr. Trolololo" on Facebook. My wife even has a friendly "Bejewelled" competition with her mother and sister on Facebook.
There are so many many many bad things that we all have to cut through before we get to the fun stuff though. For instance, why would someone put up that they are upset or hurt, and when asked why or what happened, they refuse to talk about it? Think about it. You are standing in a room with 50 of your closest friends, and you start to break out in tears. Every one of them will come to your aid and see that you are ok. This is the same thing. This status update of anger and pain goes out to your entire contact list, who generally are your friends. What do you think they will do?
Another problem with facebook is being having photos put up that either shouldn't be up or aren't wanted up. Say there are photos of a person's wedding on someone else's facebook page. They put them up, and are asked that they be taken down. They got a bullshit response about life and whatever. That person likely didn't even want to be at the wedding! I personally went through the privacy and photo rules, and facebook will not make someone take down the pictures, even if the people in the pics don't want them there. It suggests that you ask that person to take down the photos politely, and that person should be mature enough to do so kindly. Generally, this never happens.
Then there's the "being a fan of " crap. Yes, once again, there are some very useful "Fan of" groups, such as musical acts that use this as a tool to get the word out about their upcoming shows or political figures using it to "spread the word". But who cares if you are a fan of breathing? Or Cheese? Then you are asked to be fans of so many times over it's sick. Throw on top FARMVILLE and MAFIA WARS and it makes facebook almost ridiculous to use.
Truth be told, the only real thing I don't like about Twitter is the name. It's just silly really. But that's more an opinion. Twitter allows me to follow my favorite sports reporters and video game retailers and allows me to get in on great sports news or great deals for games. I had some non-reporters and non-retailers on there, but had to "unfollow" them all. It was worse than facebook status updates. :S
Before anyone calls me a hypocrite because I blog, (which many consider a similar activity to facebook and twitter) and rant about mindless things, I do this for a reason. I blog for a sense of personal therapy, to help my writing and English skills, and really don't care if anyone reads or not. I have, in the past, spoken about personal things that weren't related to hobbies, and each and every time I've regretted it, so I do my best to stay away from that (although I know I'm not perfect!). In the long run, the real reason for this blog is for me. I put it out there if anyone is interested in a quick read, but in the long run, for the amount of readers I think I actually have, I'm sure it's likely not worth it if I were trying for a "most read blog on the net" contest.
For those of you that do check me out once in a while, thank you. Thanks for putting up with mindless rants, my bad english and obvious tendencies towards things I know not many of you are into.
With that, let's say "I'll see ya later". Hopefully I will soon.
Ciao!
C
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