The Social Fuck Up

Facebook... Twitter..

Saying these two words and I can already see some of you sitting with eyes glazing over as your mind wanders...

“I should totally log on and check my notifications or go tweet my favourite celeb in hope that they’ll respond...”

For those of you that have succumbed to the cult-trend that is BlackBerry you’re not too concerned right now because your phone is sure to tell you when someone interacts with you on any of your social media sites.

Yip, you know who you are... Conformist! ;)

Ahem...

Technology has the ability to effortlessly connect us. In the past you had to wait patiently days on end for your trusty “messenger” to ride his noble steed out into the wilderness to deliver a letter that was painstakingly written by hand only to find that while you were trying to profess your undying love for your fair maiden that bitch upped and found someone else.

With a simple tweet or status update this awkwardness could probably have been avoided but I guess Gayward -cough- Edward was kinda “old fashioned” being 100 years old and all

But how connected are we really? Is social networking responsible for bringing millions closer together or has it in fact driven a wedge between us? Can you truly say that your relationships formed through social sites are as deep and meaningful as those formed through traditional face to face communication? Does a Cyber *Hug* really make up for the warmth you feel when someone has their arms wrapped around you? The internet has allowed for us to be connected with thousands of individuals but have you ever considered how it’s responsible for the breakdown of basic social skills?

Don’t get me wrong, the pros of social interaction from behind the safety of a computer screen or cell phone are evident. In a society where so much is placed on appearance social sites like Twitter give those that are, for lack of a better word, FUGLY, a fighting chance to prove their worth without being judged beforehand.

Admit it, not many of you would approach this and ask for a number but it (not quite sure of the gender) might just be an awesome person... o.O Twitter/Fake Facebook profile or online chat sites would let you see that... Maybe... Just Saying...

The digital fortress that we hide behind also arms us with an amazing amount of confidence (kinda like tequila). We suddenly find that inner flirt, some become brutally honest with all social boundaries removed, others jump at the opportunity to create a "fantasy self" that's easier to keep up when dealing with strangers and then for some it brings out the "stalker" in them. Yes, social networking has successfully given us a false sense of security, a platform to "mould" our online selves into exactly who we think we'd like to be. We can try on different personalities without much judgement or any real consequences until we find that perfect online self that we are content with...

For those of us that had a childhood without the magic at our fingertips now known as the interwebz, we learned that there are certain things you couldn't say out loud due to the beating you'd probably receive. There was none of this "passive-aggressive cryptic" self expression that is now found in online statuses daily. We weren't bombarded by this insane amount of knowledge that is now stored out in cyber space and that grows daily at an alarming rate. We probably met marginally less people than the generation of today are exposed to and so each relationship we formed was likely to have more depth and received more of our attention. It was easier to concentrate simply because we had less to concentrate on.

It's not ADD, it's fucking Information Overload bitches!

What's on your mind? What are you doing? Tell us more about yourself. Share now. Download for later. Read more. Join this. Like that. View here. Click there... I'M getting a complex being told what to do all the time!

I am willing to bet that every single one of us that make use of social networking have been victim to the "complications" that can arise. The essence of a message being misunderstood by a loved one due to the lack of tone or expression in the written word, the gossip that can arise from people that have nothing better to do than to internet stalk others. Modern relationships are, for the most part, fickle. The idea of love is thrown around without much thought. Individuals jump from one fad to another faster than Tiger Woods chasing a hot piece of ass. We THINK we know someone based on what they choose to share online but can we really make that assumption?

I watch as tweens sit glued to their phones while you're trying to have a conversation with them. I've seen the pressure for young girls to pout and pose for the perfect "profile" picture. Cameras are no longer taken along to capture memories but rather to steal moments in time that will eventually fill up albums on Facebook. A beautiful sunset captures our attention and we no longer stop, hold our breath and take it in but rather snap it on our phones and upload it to Twitter to share it with the world. A woman Tweets through the duration of her birth, another woman Tweets and Blogs as she has an abortion, Facebook profiles are created on behalf of unborn fetuses... Have we finally lost it or am I just too "old school"?

So basically we can thank this guy for the stalker friendly portal that is Facebook:

Good old Mark Zuckerberg

And this guy helped found the greatest time waster of the century, Twitter:

There hasn’t been a movie about this dude yet so we're on a no-name basis right now

Apparently standing ominously in front of a giant logo of your brain child with a bewildered look on your face, waving your hands about as if you’re about to break into the Macarena is the “it” thing to do nowadays...

Jokes aside, these are great minds that had great visions to connect the world and bring us closer together... Where the ideas are fantastic I worry about the complete disconnection they are responsible for and aS I wOtcH DiS bEcUm dA nOrM amUng da YoOth I fEaR 4 dA fUtcHa oF oUr gEnaRasHins...

Watch out world... The Social Fuck Up is here and there is no way it's going anywhere any time soon...

Knowledge is power and will be our saviour. Be aware and intelligently adapt, or eat shit as you're left behind.

XXX