Getting Fat on Expectations

I sneaked back onto Facebook and noticed something right away.  My absence wasn’t noticed.  Not even by me.  The lives of the Facebookies did not erupt in turmoil at my absence.  There were no huge, gaping holes where my contributions should have been. It was as if my existence was minimal to Facebook. Or worse…not noticed.  Oh. Boy. What a surprise.

That’s the thing.  Facebook gives its devotees a false sense of value.  As if they mattered. The reality, of course, is that no one really matters on Facebook.  It’s an anonymous ego machine that gets fat on expectations.

Yet it has replaced the front porch.  And the bar (sort of).  And the barbershop.  And the corner grocery.

I do not like this.  But, then, I don’t like war and famine, either, yet I was not asked to permit them to intrude on my planet.  It’s reasonable to want to end war and famine.  But Facebook?  It doesn’t quite compare, does it?

Hard to say.  Very hard to say.

About John Swinburn

"Love not what you are but what you may become."― Miguel de Cervantes
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11 Responses to Getting Fat on Expectations

  1. Juan and Trish, I continue to have mixed feelings about Facebook. Perhaps it’s that I allow myself to be manipulated by it, rather than the fact it’s a beastly bore, that bothers me. In either case, I’m back on, albeit with no guarantee I’ll stay. Happy New Year to you!

  2. Trish says:

    Wow, I’m impressed that you can still remember the title of that video, Juan! Ah, come on, it was all in fun when you’d posted that, and gave everyone a laugh, I see nothing wrong in that. Laughter is good medicine! Now that you’ve posted it again, still makes me laugh!

    You sound content in what you are doing with your time, and that it what its all about. I am glad to hear this! 🙂

    If FB is mixed with other outside activities, I see a certain amount of balance in that, and see no harm. Yes, overall FB is lite, and to be taken as such.

    I actually miss you on FB, for you are creatively funny, with a wild imagination. You can be so much fun when the mood strikes you, and I see that as an endearing quality, Juan! 🙂

    Happy New Year!

  3. Juan says:

    Great morning today!!!!

    I’m being petulant….I know, Trish. Who am I to pass off judgment? While we may posit that FB is egotistical, we might also say, “Yeah…and so what?”

    So lately I’m reading H.G. Wells; another is reading that comic book “Atlas Shrugged,” and someone else is is trying to understand “Ulysses.” Who’s really wasting time here?

    Admittedly, when I was on FB, I got some of the best ideas when we were posting pics on cupboards, home and landscaping ideas, and then that thorough search-n-show we did over tango music. Remember? Moreover, thanks to FB, I have a deeper understanding of “the bitch slap” …..ah, the proverbial bitch slap …. that can even cross over into ” purse and shoe slapping.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8mMv0n2lA

  4. Trish says:

    Yes, Juan and John, it could be an ego machine, for some. Others are just informative of the daily news, others are often in crusades for missing people, or abused animals. I personally on occasion post my tastes, from food, to what I consider a beautiful painting, or photo..comments included of course. Other times I’ll tell a tale of family history. I’m not seeing the bad in this mix.

    As Susanne mentioned feeling empty, and John concurred, personally if I feel emptiness, FB can only be a reminder at best, of what I already have felt, or am feeling. But this is my take.

    My son was the bugger that opened my account. I was connected with him, his school mates, and finally the mothers. I then began to find long lost friends, and family (this was good stuff) and thereafter people not unlike yourselves, that I found a certain level of bonding, and even met! And I say to myself, what were the chances of that? Close to nil. Good stuff, again!

    I think its all what you make it, and if you enjoy the simple interchange that it can be (at times), chit chat, so what.

    And, yes you are right, Juan anonymity on a pubic forum is laughable, but even blog conversations are pretty well recorded on a Google.

  5. You send me to the dictionary, my friend! I cannot find “strabilious.” I find “atrabilious,” which means gloomy. Or “strobilius,” which is conelike. Or maybe my dictionaries are low end; I don’t own an OED! Regardless, you are too kind to me. The way you spend your time is far more intriguing than Facebook! Your routine is quality, indeed!

  6. Juan says:

    You need only examine and compare FB to your own blog to see the strabilious difference between the two, my friend.

    Even now — and Interestingly — you are preparing to a do a massive undertaking of some editing and meta-writing of your own material? What a great and worthwhile task!

    How would you do that with FB?
    Would one even want to?
    Is FB really pornography?

    Today was spent reading and listening to music: the new issue of the Atlantic Monthly; then, found an interesting article from the NY Times about a study concerning “leadership and corruption,” which lead to me another article from the Huffington Post about Florida as the #1 state in the US for corruption (not surprising); then read H.G. Well’s “The Island of Dr. Moreau”; which lead me to begin reading a purchased E-biography on Wells himself, and later ….. made my way to review your latest posts — and all along, not even concerned as to what was happening on FB. Frankly, I’m pretty happy with my routine here. Quality!

    I don’t remember how long I’ve been off FB — maybe September? With exception to the passing comments over personal briefs-turned-public, I hardly miss it.

    As you say, [i]t’s an anonymous ego machine that gets fat on expectations.” I love that line! Anonymity in a public forum? What a great sense of irony in that!

  7. Susanne, I am back on for the moment, but I share your “empty feeling” about much of what I see on Facebook. On the one hand, it’s nice to be able to keep up with people and meet some new ones, but when FB is the only connection, and leaving it means the ties are severed, I have to wonder how solid the ties were in the first place. I keep trying to see if for what it is and hope there’s value in that.

  8. Trish says:

    Actually I should have added, welcome back!! I just now saw that you left it activated…..:)

  9. Trish says:

    Agreeing with Larry, John. Beginning that your FB is deactivated it stands to reason that it might just look that way, for after all, there is no form to have any interchange from there with you.

  10. Larry Zuckerman says:

    I did notice your absence. I like the connection we all maintain. I like the music. I like you!

  11. Susanne says:

    I agree John. I recently deactivated my account. FB started to feel like High School, where all the cool kids say what they want and have their group. I just got tired of posting, then editing, and then deleting because in reality my views really don’t matter. I originally went on FB to keep in touch with my daughter while she went to school in Australia. Also found some very dear old school friends, found your blog which touches on so many interesting views. But I have found that FB leaves me with an empty feeling in the end.

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