Monday, October 13, 2008

Status Update: "SAYONARA!"

"I became despondent. What, then, was I? If my time was spent changing my profile picture on Facebook, thinking of a clever status update for Facebook, checking my profile again to see if anyone had commented on my page, Is this what I am? A person who re-visits her own thoughts and images for hours each day? And so what do I amount to? An egotist? A voyeur? Whatever the label, I was unhappy and feeling empty. The amount of time I spent on Facebook had pushed me into an existential crisis. It wasn't the time-wasting, per se, that bothered me. It was the nature of the obsession -- namely self-obsession. Enough was enough. I left Facebook."

Sounds like something Woody Allen would have said-- maybe even Freud. Chillingly, it's all too true. This excerpt is from a recent article which attempts to rationalize the seemingly infinite Facebook frenzy...or dilemma, depending on how you view it. The author, who apparently paid attention in PSYCH 101, makes a compelling argument regarding the link between narcissism, egotism, boredom and even voyeurism amongst, as she aptly observes, the "look at me" generation. The article struck a particular note considering just one month ago, I virtually [pun intended] dismantled about 99% of my profile (including photos) for many of the same reasons examined in her passage.

Psychoanalysis aside, howabout the fact that any shred of privacy you once had pre-Facebook, MySpace, or Friendster is now appalingly non-existent. In fact, I think I can hear George Orwell saying "I told you so" from the grave as I'm writing this. Even if you're too cool to be concerned with the ever-present "Big Brother" aspect perpetuated by "social-networking" [surveillance] sites, aren't you the least bit creeped out that your boss is getting off to pictures of you doing body shots at an office happy-hour...during your lunch break?? I am.

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/102684/stop_being_a_narcissist_--_it

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