We Aren't Alienated!

Connection with Low Expectation:

I agree with Hal’s idea of connection with low expectation.  That is what Facebook is all about.  We want to have as many Facebook friends as possible because it makes us feel cool, popular, and exciting.  In reality most of your Facebook friends do not care much about your life and your posts, but hey, being Facebook friends with you makes them seem cooler too.

You can have as many Facebook friends or blog followers as you can imagine, but when something goes bad, how many of them are actually going to be there to hold your hand and support you?  I don’t think too many of them would.  But then you weren’t expecting them to come anyways because you know they aren’t your real friends…they’re just your Facebook friends.  This expectation works both ways.  People do not expect to have to be there for you, and you do not expect them to do anything for you. 

The Search for Community in an Age of Alienation

I did not agree with this idea.  For one, I do not think we are in an age of alienation.  How can we be alienated when we can contact our friends and family just by pulling our cell phones out of our pockets and dialing a few numbers?  (I mean, people used to have to ride the horse clear across town to talk to their friends!)  We can contact people whenever or from where ever we want to.  I do not feel alienated at all.

Loneliness is what a person makes it to be.  You can be lonely in a room full of people if you want to be, or you can be not lonely and sitting at your computer talking to six different people of Facebook that you really could care less about.  I feel like it’s your choice.  I like being around people, and I have enough friends and family that there is usually someone around for me to talk to.  But, at the same time I can sit with my laptop and look on Facebook to see what is up in people’s lives.  Facebook does nothing to make me feel more or less alienated.  Blogging about my life would not help me express my “true self” anymore than I do already.  I do not think you can make friends through a blog, and if you cannot express your “true self” in your “real life” then is it really your “true self”?

We are currently in a community that is a large as this world.  If we want to, we can figure out what Jacques in France is eating for dinner, or we can read about the shopping trip that Suri is on in India.  We can connect with every type of person imaginable, so if people feel alienated, then they must not be trying too hard to get connected into the worldwide community.  If you choose not to join Facebook because you think it’s dumb, then that is your opinion.

The whole chapter from The Peep Diaries was about how we like to watch other people and know what is going on in their lives.  I think this gives people a sense of community.  It makes our lives seem less boring if we are able to hear about the exciting things other people are doing.  Even if it has been five years since we talked to Jimmy from high school, we feel connected to him in a way just because we got to read about how awesome his trip to Miami.  I do not think Facebook and social media is a search for community in alienation—I think it is the prevention for that alienation.