Firstly, I noticed on the bottom right corner of my Facebook Timeline there were options for certain years. I clicked 2008 and suddenly I was transported back to grade 8 and all of the ridiculous posts of that year. Then, I proceeded to see what I did in 2009, 2010 and 2011, then finally making it back to present day.
What's interesting about doing this is seeing what type of person you used to be through your online interactions with others. It's really an introspective experience, you can really measure how much you've changed your public image and persona through the course of your adolesent and young adult life.
It's actually quite scary how something as simple as a sentence you wrote when you were 15 can bring back such strong memories. For example, one of my favorite posts that I discovered as a status that said, "is starting to smell better... believe me." This brought me back to one of the most unfortunate stories of my life that I'd rather not expose online.. However, I will tell you it involves myself and a skunk. But more on that later.
Another interesting thing I noticed is that before the Facebook Message existed the primary means of communication was by having full on conversations on someone's wall. Like most people my age I used to do this but the truly hilarious thing is that I totally forgot that we would communicate like that. I cant speak for others but I'm sure there are a few of us that have zero recollection of the "wall to wall" that once existed as our primary mode of communication.
The last thought that I had was that Facebook can either be viewed as something that will either lead to our downfall or allow us to reach the next level in communication as a global community, hopefully the latter. What truly worries me is how my children will communicate with their friends and peers. I can only imagine their social ineptitude but from what I've been thinking it looks rather gloomy.
We will either be so enthralled in our online worlds that we won't be able to communicate in person with each other, or social networking will help us reach the next level in global networking and the transmission of ideas and thoughts. However, as cliche as this sounds, only time will tell if we are digging ourselves our very own grave via social networking. So ask yourself, is Facebook ruining your life? If you're unsure, here is a list of signs Facebook is ruining your life.
Stay thirsty my friends,
-MB
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