People who complain about Facebook

I suppose it is inherent in our human nature to complain about everything. If it’s not too warm, then it’s too cold, when it’s not raining, everyone wants rain, and then when it rains, people complain about it raining all the time. God must think we are the most dissatisfied bunch of misfits He ever created.

Anyway, enough of me complaining about humans complaining. Lately you hear people everywhere saying how much they dislike Facebook. They complain about other people that use it all the time, they complain about it making the global village smaller, they complain that it is unsociable. Often these same people will be seen on Facebook in photos of their Wednesday night dinner party, photos of their new-born baby or their drunken night out on the town. Or they’ll be the ones that “likes” everybody’s status updates, photos, video links, blog posts, or whatever.

My theory is deep down inside, everybody enjoys Facebook. After all, humans love gossip. We like to stay up to date with what’s happening in everybody’s lives. Whether you’re a regular, or whether you just login once a week, we all love it! It’s like the reality TV shows when they came out. Everybody was nailed to the TV set, because we love watching drama and Facebook is full of drama.

I happen to visit Facebook quite often as I am a web developer and work on the internet every day of my life. To me it’s just another communication tool, like having Skype, Gmail and Outlook open all at the same time. And then the phone rings…

I remember way back when cellphones came out. Before cellphones, people could only get hold of you if you were at home or at the office. That’s it. It was great! Now you can be reached just about anywhere. But why I bring up those days is, I remember back then how people complained about cellphones. Some people even said they will never get one. It was almost as if people had this whole “big brother” fear about cellphones. Now it is an everyday thing. If you don’t have one, you’re just plain weird (I actually met someone the other day that does not have a cellphone, or an email address for that matter, weirdo). The point I’m trying to get to, if I can maybe stop interrupting myself, is this. My generation were still in our teens when cellphones came out and we easily accepted them. I remember it was mostly the older generation that were scared of them and who said they will never own one. Now the people that complain about Facebook are my generation and upwards. It’s the younger generations below us that are accepting it as the next best thing.

I remember when I started chatting on the internet. Everything was very anonymous. You used an alias and an avatar and no-one knew your real name. It was almost unheard of that you’ll expose your real identity to people in chat rooms. The first time I joined Facebook, I signed up with an alias. Haha! Needless to say, it did not take me long to figure out that it defeats the whole purpose. It took me a very long time to get accustomed to the idea of actually putting a photo of myself on the internet.

Our kids will grow up with Facebook being just another tool like a cellphone. It will probably be so integrated into our society by then that we won’t even think of it as a social website anymore, but more like a service that make our lives easier. Just like we used to crack jokes about our parents being old and not accepting new technology, our children one day will do exactly the same thing. They will probably be like, “But Dad, how did you get anything done if you did not have Facebook when you were growing up?” If used cleverly, Facebook can be a very useful tool (besides network marketing).

Facebook is here to stay. You might as well get used to it. Embrace the change. Technology is here for us. It is here to make our lives easier. It is progress. If you don’t want it, don’t use it and go back to your cave. And if you dislike it so much, why do you still have a profile on Facebook? It’s really easy to deactivate it, just go check under your account settings, it’s right there. Just a few clicks away. Otherwise, just keep your sad opinions to yourself.

In: Rants & Raves

Tags: cellphones, Facebook