Monday, February 1, 2010

Death


Lately, I've been worried about something.  It's not something to be particularly proud of, it's something kind of vain, I guess.  I've been looking at my Facebook friends count.

I'm cringing at myself.  When I first heard about Facebook (back when only American students could join), I remember thinking to myself, what's the point?  It all seemed stupid.  I didn't get how you 'won' at Facebook, and I remember laughing to myself that people just tried to get as many friends as they could.

And then, as time went on, I've come to this point.  Sure, I don't add just anyone.  I try to add people that I've met at least twice.  Sure, they might not say hi to me on the street.  I don't have their mobile number.  They wouldn't lend me $100 or come to my birthday party.  I guess those are the more rigorous tests of friendship.  Nevertheless, they've added me, and I think they are all great people.

The other day, I noticed my friend list had gone down 2, to 534.  I was sad (because I was losing at Facebook).  I googled to see how I could find out who deleted me.  There really is no easy way to find out.  

Then the next day, it was back up to 535.  Then 536.  Today it's at 535.  There's one explanation I can think of.  Someone is deleting themself from Facebook.  I remember the first time I deleted myself from Facebook.  Within an hour, I got a message from a friend, asking if everything was ok.  Facebook deletion is like virtual suicide!   Does anyone even exist if they aren't on Facebook?  I think it's a virtual indicator of real worry.  And so now, I'm not sad for the selfish reason of losing at Facebook, I'm sad for the real reason that someone out there, one of my friends, may be really depressed.

It's strange how much our world has changed because of this invention.  Even stranger though, is that one of my last nights in Singapore, I was hanging out with the inventor of the damn thing and I didn't even know it.  All I heard was whispers that we were hanging with the $600m man (don't believe rumours), and then from out of nowhere, this 6L magnum of Belvedere appears, in the middle of Attica, one of Singapore's trashier (but more fun) night spots.  I wish I'd known more about it, but let it be said, Eduardo Saverin is, for all I know, a top bloke.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting post...sort of. I have always thought facebook made a BIG mistake calling contacts "friends" it devalues the idea of friendship altogether. I think people would think about their number (or anyone else's for that matter) if the word "friends" was replaced with something a little bit more impersonal such as "contacts" or "followers" such as the terminology used in your blog (by the way you have 5 followers; well make it 6...now you don't have to stress about the 2 lost friends on facebook).

    I've talked to people about facebook before and their tends to be two words to describe it: "evil" or "useful". Nothing inbetween. It's funny how checking one's facebook is part of one's everyday routine from brushing ones teeth to going to the gym etc. Funny that our relationship with facebook can only be described in the above limited terms. Perhaps were connected virtually but disconnected emotionally. I guess I went off cantor there..
    I'll stop here as I believe I just made another facebook friend...yes, facebook friend.


    >If you get a chance I recommend you read "Friendship Expose" a book all about the topic of what a friend is...quiet enlightening.

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