When did my friends, acquaintances, café meetups and business contacts become my new network?” How was I brainwashed to believe that a numerically larger community would supplant my existing private personal email relationships? I didn’t realize my human friends would be reduced to data on a website. Is this social media surveillance?
It all began quite innocently. My social media needs were non-existent. or so I thought. My family consisted of a few wonderful cousins and one uncle. The occasional emails within this tiny group brought back memories of childhood, and holiday gatherings. Having retired from the business world my contacts consisted of a handful of true blue buddies and a few people needed to sort out a banking or home repair problem. A very manageable lot indeed. What happened?
I could blame my marketing savvy friend Douglas. As I was opening a vintage poster gallery in a new location he had modern ideas how to promote it. We already had the now standard Internet presence of a website, presented special posters to existing clients and circulated educational blogs. Way out of date I was told. I needed to be actively engaged in building a large Facebook audience. Under Doug’s guidance I was enrolled, password secured and profiled that afternoon as a business and an individual. Easy, free and uplifting to be part of the latest trend. Who would be the first to enter my new world? Naively I thought, would I go “viral” or get a “cold shoulder”?
The people at Facebook (not too big to fail!) welcomed me with clever options to manage my data. My personal profile triggered hundreds of friend “candidates” pushed at me to connect with or remove. I knew none of the hundreds I scanned through. The hours past hoping for a person I should know or connect with. So I updated my profile with more specific details figuring it would narrow down the possibilities the FB system proposed. The opposite occurred as the brilliance of this system worked its programmed magic. The number of potential friends grew beyond my wildest imagination. That’s with having wisely steered clear of entering favorite movies, websites, quotes or political views.
It seemed the goal for FB users was to dominate the social media field by initially building-up your friend numbers. Good lord, I found as my privacy was being monitored and stored specialized groups to join magically came to my attention. I did want to promote our vintage poster collection. So I decided to go on the offensive. The Facebook search function looked easy. I entered friends and family names as best I could remember. The enormity of the Internet connected world was apparent. With years that had passed, people relocating and their being similar names, going this route is frustrating and time consuming. I did score a few hits and sent out the required invitation to join me. Okay, I’ve made a start. Maybe I’d try this again later when I had more time. Meanwhile I’d go back to screening the people FB sent me to consider and get my numbers up.
Managing a personal FB page and a business page was mentally stimulating. Documenting photos of our poster inventory and posting them with educational information gained a growing number of “likes”.
Participating in graphic design, artist and art collector groups, both locally and internationally was exciting. Planning photos to post and a story about them fueled my passion for writing. As a recipient of other people’s posts I quickly determined I wanted a viewer to “feel” my posts provided enjoyment, surprise and passion for the creative process. FB revenues had to be built on paid advertising and selling products through the ads accompanying postings. Now they also sell our behaviors! Too many of the postings smacked of self promotion without any redeeming balance for the viewer. I set a goal to avoid that pitfall. I could envision a growing deterioration in people’s messaging as their language got sloppy and faddishly coded. Is “virtual” the end of serious discourse, only to reside on news blogs, journalistic websites and mass media systems. Maybe I’m too cynical of the impact money has on useful innovation and design?
The internet is a treasure trove of knowledge. How did my life really change as a FB user? Did I have fewer in person friends? My mother hated to use the telephone but it didn’t destroy our family life.
Email meant having one or two truly intimate friends regardless of available technology. I’m grateful many are returning to serious relationships. Collecting FB friends is just another addiction. Time wasting and distracting from our opportunities to create, love and make everyday joyful.
