Social Networking sites have flourished during my teenage years. I remember in 9th grade I got a MySpace and a Xanga and I thought these were THE coolest things to do. I could talk to some of my friends, post notes about whatever was on my mind, and change my profile picture – on both sites. Little by little, it started to change. MySpace got a little weirder (sorry if this offends any users!), they started accommodating for a lot of music groups, and random people were friend requesting me. I just wasn’t convinced by the safety of it all. Xanga, plain and simple got the “uncool” stamp.
Then, the social networking gods answered my prayers – Facebook. Well, actually my best friend told me about it, because her brother was (is) a college student – and at that time Facebook was just beginning to expand to high school students. This was it. This was so much cooler, and so much more “in the know,” if you will. It felt exclusive. Maybe it was because not as many of my friends were on it, but soon they drank the Kool-Aid. Er…I mean, they signed up.
I can honestly say after four years, and the countless numbers of times Facebook has changed, I can’t even begin to explain what it looked like way back then. It was simpler, and maybe more boring. A whole lot less easy to “stalk” people, I’ll give you that. And when did “stalking” become a socially acceptable term, even, when it came to Facebooking? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I use it too – for lack of a better term. But I’m genuinely curious as to when it went viral. It must’ve been when the news feeds started…but I digress!
Anyway, like MySpace, Facebook was a place to share yourself and to connect with others. The security settings on Facebook, even this I can remember, far outweighed the options that MySpace offered. I’ve heard the MySpace has changed their game as of late, but I’ll be serious – no one is going to turn me off of Facebook. I spend more time connected to Facebook than I would care to share, and at this point, the only reason I don’t have a crack…sorry, Blackberry (or iPhone) is because I fear for the world if I were on Facebook even more so than I am now without one of those phones. But really, it may have made my life a little bit more distracting, but it gives us lazy people in the world a simple, easy way to keep an address book. Want to send your friend a message? No need to figure out their email or even their phone number. Just find them on Facebook.
Of course, I’m glorifying Facebook here (note of bias: I believe it’s rightfully so!), but I’m sure that these aspects apply on almost every social networking site that you find all over the Internet.
Anyway, what I really want to stress at the end of this post is: it’s all about connections! Whether it’s on a superficial level, or some sort of common interest. Maybe it’s something to do with music connections, or networking for your jobs. Maybe you meet a long-lost classmate, or become really close to a distant relative whom you didn’t have much contact with in the first place. Connections – it’s a pretty big world, and it’s nice to have something help make it feel a little bit more personal – a little bit more yours.
In case you’re wondering what this all has to do with art, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for installment numero dos!
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