Helena no longer wonders what her friends are up to during the day. Thanks so modern technology, she receives mobile updates about their thoughts and whereabouts from sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and . While social media networks are convenient for keeping in touch with friends and frenemies alike–they also take away from the now ancient element of surprise.
Allow me to elaborate.
There was a time when trying to keep up contact with someone actually required work. When we decided to elude our private lives, we made those looking for us do their research a la Carmen San Diego. We would flip through phone books, hoping one of the listed ‘T. Hughes’ was our ballet classmate from the seventh grade We also painstakingly registered on sites like Classmates.com, opting out of Gold membership because, although we wanted our high school friends to find us, the idea of receiving emails from our awkward sophomore-year homecoming date seemed undesirable. At the end of the day, it felt good not putting too much of your life out in cyberspace. Now, we know everything about everyone with the click of a “sign in” button.
I'm guilty of having a Facebook page
The days of being surprised to run into an old friend at the grocery store are long gone. I remember studying my parents’ high school yearbooks as a child and reveling in their youth captured on film. I also remember watching them eagerly prepare for high school reunions. Reunions were a time to find out how many children a classmate had, who married, who divorced, who’d lost weight or gotten fatter, who’d aged the most or who secured the most succesful jobs. Like every one else, I love the internets internet for enabling me to regularly catch up with friends, make new ones and see them grow as they post pictures to online photo albums or post silly videos. At the same time, I can’t help but feel cheated out of tradition.
I am an alumna of the Class of 2004. Because of social networking, there will be no surprises in store when and IF I attend my 10-year high school reunion. I already know every exciting aspect of everyone’s lives as far as who tied the knot, who received a visit from the stork , who was the biggest loser (weight-rise and characteristically) and who looks as if they graduated in 1976. Furthermore, if I miss reunion night, there will photo and videographic evidence posted–probably before the evening is over– to keep me current.
As a mass communications graduate, I completely understand the relevance and necessity of technology–especially in this day and age. Albeit, I also can’t help feeling jarred at how social networking has enhanced our lives (i.e., increased job opportunities, global communication, civilian journalism, etc.) and simultaneously taken away the little thrills that make each day worth living.
Dear, friend. I don't know when I last wrote you a real letter or even stopped to call you on the phone. I prefer to Tweet you and Myspace IM you. It's what's hot in the streets now.
A wise man once said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” Well, consider social networking sites the cheat-sheet of flavors that now comes on top of your Whitman’s sampler.
Just thinking out loud,
–LadyOshKosh
ps.) Click here to follow me on Twitter. Haha.
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