Circa 2008, I logged in to facebook every few days, updated my status as "Jess is happy", smiled and laughed at the cute photos of my friends
Circa 2009, I logged in to facebook once per day, still happy, smiled and laughed at cute photos of my friends, acquired farms and badges, corresponded with friends on facebook chat
Circa 2010, I logged on to facebook a few times per day, semi happy, half smiled and nodded at the cute photos of my friends, tended to my farms and badges, corresponded with friends on facebook chat
Circa 2011, I logged on to facebook as soon as my eyes opened and when I was waiting in line and when I was walking and right before I fell alseep, moderately happy, glanced at the cute photos of my friends, all of my crops had shriveled, corresponded with friends and enemies on facebook chat, allured by the "like"
Circa 2012, I logged on to facebook when I was...um....wait, I was no longer logging in...I was definitely not happy, I deleted all of my friends with excessively cute photos, acquired a facebook messenger stalker, "unliked" 237 brands
Facebook, for better or worse, has helped lead me down the path of social networking fatigue. Fatigue can be defined as a subjective feeling of tiredness. Some anotnyms for 'fatigue' include 'lethargy', 'exhaustion', 'dullness', and 'weariness'. I so desperately want to stay socially engaged with my friends and favorite brands, but, let's be honest. I'm busy and tired and simply do not have the emotional capacity to process the massive amount of information that accompanies being connected with several hundred people and brands. Any given scroll through my status feed could yield results such as...
"Ginny is drinking coffee at Starbucks with Ryan, Mary, Ed, and Renee. Anyone want anything?!"
"Allison I have a flat tire!!! HELP!! I'm broken down on the side of the road"
"Peter SOOOO sick bro...I've been puking up green stuff all morning...omg sooo sick"
"Mallory ok seriously, don't talk to me. I won't try again. Don't love me if you are going to hurt me"
While being in the know about all of my friends is a good thing, I find that I am becoming more and more numb and cynical to their online personalities. For example...
Ginny, I would love a Starbucks but you live 70 miles from me and I think it would be inconvenient
Allison, I feel bad for your flat tire, but I met you in high school, and we have not actually talked in years
Peter, C'mon man. That is gross. Go to the doctor
Mallory, Do you want me to ask you the details or do you not want me to ask you the details
Multiply this example by a couple hundred status updates, add photos of cats and babies, and we've got ourselves a decent representation of how much social information there is to be mentally processed on a daily (read, hourly) basis. And the worst part about being mentally aware of Ginny, Allison, Peter, Mallory (cats and babies) is that I cannot do anything to physically interact with these people - live - in person - in the flesh - real time. This makes me somewhat sad and a little apathetic. Have any of you experienced these feelings of facebook fatigue? Do you think that a healthy society can be cultivated online where we all still celebrate coffee with friends, a flat tire fixed, a sick person getting well, and yes...even the purchase of a new kitten...
INFO 3130 Social Networking, Jessica Finster
I have experienced a similar type of Facebook fatigue, which is mainly the reason I do not have a Facebook account anymore. My friend created an account for me about 5 years ago just because she wanted me to have one. I never got involved with it like my other friends did. Not because I didn't want to, but because I never could find the time. I was fatigued from the Facebook account before I ever started getting involved with it. I just could not understand some people that I was friends with were posting certain comments. I decided it was better to text or make a phone call to the friends I wanted to talk to. Just as you said, I enjoy the live interaction with my friends.
ReplyDeleteLOL! First of all, I enjoyed your writing! You are very funny and honest, and I completely related. I personally have a love-hate relationship with facebook. I like being able to see pictures of my nieces and nephews and every few days I'll log on to post some of my own. I try not to lose faith in all of humankind though, when I see the "look, I took an awkward pic of myself in my car, at the produce isle at the Food Store, in the UNCC parking lot for no reason, at the beach, club, pool...." Then there is the relationship statuses. I know girls who say they are only "official" when the dude in question changes his FB relationship status. Very strange! Maybe it's because I don't have time anymore to be on, that makes me frustrated with it when I am on. Don't even get me started on the re-post of re-post. Sometimes all I ever see on the feed is cats with birthday hats or redneck bumper stickers, or my mother's fav, Bible scriptures that pretty much tell you that you are going to hell if you don't "like". GRRR
ReplyDeleteAnyway my point is, yes, I have extreme FB fatigue!! Great post!
I know for a comment to count for the grade it has to be meaningful and add to the discussion. Don't count this one.
ReplyDeleteI hate Facebook.
Ian Doyle "likes" this.
DeleteHaha! This is great guys!
DeleteI agree with the paragraph about all of the information social networks push in our faces every second. We constantly have new information every second. However, for me it's not that I care about interacting with these people physically, it is usually that I just don't care.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of the feedback! Facebook has definitely caused me to loath people that I previously loved just because I became fed up with knowing things that were of no value to me. I am also shocked at some people's online personality. I could not believe some of the things that I was reading! It seems to have become a breeding ground for passive aggressive behavior to thrive, which, to me is draining and exhausting.
ReplyDeleteSo now that I feel as if I have legitimately bashed Facebook. Perhaps it is time to delete my account lest I eat my own words soon, haha?!
Great post! I too have lost my enthusiasm for Facebook. It has taken the "mystery" out of seeing old friends and has created such a disingenuous environment I rarely get on anymore. It's sad that we have all become desensitized by it and the targeted ads that go along with its use now. I'm sure sometime in the near future there will evolve a new social media platform to overtake Facebook but until then I'd suggest checking out Lamebook.com
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to see what develops after Facebook!
DeleteFacebook Fatigue, yes I have experienced it. The usual scenario for me is I am bored and then decide to see what my Facebook Friends have to say for entertainment and what's happening. Then I update the news feed to see whats going on and find out exactly what people I haven't seen in years are doing or how they feel. When we were kids our parents told us to stop watching tv and go outside and play. Now, most youth spend a good bit of their day reviewing social media. Facebook does not help cultivate a healthy society because of instead of being out there doing something, Facebook users are looking at a screen getting the most up to date social media information.
ReplyDeleteWe completely agree with you! It is no fun to sit inside and just read what other people are doing.
DeleteFacebook fatigue is in full effect. Even with all the people on Facebook it is not being used how it once was. I have moved to twitter over a year and keep up with my Google + as well. Facebook just got to over advertised and not very mature thing to do. I was never one to spend hours on Facebook but twitter and Google plus are the social networks of today.
ReplyDeleteFacebook really has become so overwhelming with ads and games and ads and games and, oh yeah...did we mention ads?! It will be interesting to see what social media looks like in a year...
DeleteJust wait til Facebook rolls out the auto-playing video ads in our newsfeeds next month!
DeleteI've experienced similar fatigue with Facebook but still manage to catch myself looking at the timeline multiple times a day. Possibly in hopes that someone will have something moderately intelligent to post, on the rare occasions that they do. The advertisements are another huge let down. I understand that a majority of their income is generated through advertising but it should not overwhelm the users.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I used Facebook as my way of communicating with the outside world after having major surgery. I was on Facebook a good portion of the day to chat with friends. Fast forward to now, I check Facebook a few times a day to read messages and so forth. I read the News Feed and see people posting about the most ridiculous things from getting ready for work to "selfies". I get so frustrated and disgusted by these posts! C'mon, people, really?
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I definitely do not believe that a healthy society can be cultivated online. I often find myself and my friends discussing what others are doing and posting on social media sites. What has our society become? It has become a show and tell. It is not about the relationships and the friendships that we have built. It is all about how many "likes" or "friends/followers" we have online.
What is a "selfie?"
DeleteA selfie is a picture you take of yourself. As know as duck-face photo, mirror photo, and double chin photo.
DeleteI definitely understand how exhaustive and less entertaining Facebook has become. When I left MySpace, I was on FB all day and all night. Now, I could delete my page and never look back if it wasn't such a great way for my distant family to see what's going on with my life. I hate the advertisements...like with a passion. Although they claim they are for me specifically, they have nothing to do with me. And now, there is Twitter. Twitter...the social networking site where people can update you every two minutes. Seriously?!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you! I only use my Facebook to talk to distant relatives. We have a family group page and post a lot of things on there. It has made planning our reunion much more efficient.
DeleteKelenya, I am soooo close to deleting my page...My only hang up is that I will lose contact with my overseas friends. I guess I could revert back to emailing ;) Thanks for the comment, Jess
Delete