Thursday, July 9, 2009

Facebook and Twitter can Die and Rot.

Back before I signed up for Facebook, everyone was trying to get me on there. When I finally did, a guy I know said something like "you are finally drinking the Koolaid" or something like that, so I said "well, you've been a tool for months."

Let me tell you why I don't like Facebook or Twitter.

First, though this kind of service seems to increase the volume of interpersonal communication, and connection, it really superficializes what interpersonal communication is. There is so much more to communication than words. Most important are facial expressions. You can tell so much about a person by their facial expressions innately as a function of your natural coding as a human. Non-verbal communication is huge and when you just type, you lose it. Another thing is the voice. Your voice communicates so many things, and not the words, the tone, inflection, timbre, and numerous other characteristics. Something people often forget is hormones and pheromones that are released when we communicate. You may know that oxytocin is released when you hug or touch someone. But there are other hormones that are released into your body when you communicate and you lose those with a Tweet. Smell is a huge factor because your body releases smells and pheromones depending on your mood, attitude and stress level. Also, smells are the sense most tied to memory.

Another reason is the seemingly voluntary loss of privacy. Facebook statuses and tweets tell people what you want them to know is going on. And there is this expectation for you to tell more and more. I also think there can be a draw to be untruthful with them to make them sound more interesting. And I'm tired of people using Facebook instead of email or IM. So now you send me a Facebook message, and Facebook sends me an email so that now I have to go to Facebook and sign in to reply to the message because I can't simply reply to the email. Email me dammit! I've got an iPhone, I get it right away. Stupid Facebook app, told me I had a message for weeks, but I couldn't find it, finally pressed "refresh" and there it was. Then I got updates when Robbie was sick. Everytime there was an update, I got five different updates, two from Facebook groups and two from everywhere else.

There needs to be some privacy, at least for me. There's a reason why I moved out into the country. It was to be away from people who could see what I was doing in my own back yard. But the thing is, if you want to see what I'm doing in my back yard, just come over and ask. I don't know how many people who know me realize, but I'm here all day long and I'll talk to ya. I have a cell phone, and if you call me, I'll talk to ya. If you want to come over and see what the inside of a bee hive looks like, I'll show ya. If you want to fart around in the garden, please do. You can't do any of that stuff on Facebook. Also, you can't get a computer virus in the garden either.

Finally, like with email, it's just too easy for there to be a misunderstanding, but unlike email, it's just too public. When you leave a comment on someone's status or on their wall, everyone sees it and is free to comment on it. And it is just too easy for something to be misunderstood which can cause divides between people.

So I'm done with Facebook, and I never got started with Twitter. If you want to get ahold of me, email or call, or do the unthinkable and write a letter. Drop by my house, there's a pretty good chance I'm here. I'll keep my Facebook account in case anyone wants to contact me for high school reunions or something, but I'm not going to actively take part. And I'm going to stay away from Twitter, because as you can see, I don't do micro-blogging.

WiredForStereo

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, you should do VLOGS then so people can see your expressions! You can link that to your facebook account so people can view it directly on there then tweet about it on twitter to tell everyone that you have posted a new VLOG and they can either go directly to your blog or view it from their facebook account on their iphone. ;)

The only reason I keep my facebook around is for the contacts that I only have there. I'd not want to talk to some of the people I'm friends with except through an extremely impersonal method. Why have them as friends then? you ask. Well, S, I don't add people on facebook unless I know them really well, that is my rule but I'll approve pretty much anyone I know loosely. I have had several instances when I'm traveling where I know someone that I haven't seen in 10 years who found me on facebook and they live in a certain place then I can ask them "hey, almost stranger former friend of sorts, what is there to do here?" or "Where is the best place to go white water rafting in this part of Colorado?" and they are a wealth of knowledge. I USE THEM! baaaahahahah!

I'll miss you on facebook!

H