John Lacey
Social Networking Sites Got You Down?
It is easy to be overwhelmed by social networking sites. It is difficult, at times, to see the benefit of such sites. Facebook started life as a site with the expressed purpose of helping you stay in touch with your friends, family and colleagues. Somehow it deteriorated into a slew of silly “groups” and vampire “bite” invitations.
MySpace started life as a bridge between bands and fans. You could listen to bands’ music, check out where they’d be performing, leave them comments and messages, and even subscribe to their blog for the latest news. It was great for independent bands and artists who hadn’t yet delved into the realms of having their own websites, and was perhaps even more convenient for fans since they could keep track of most of their musical interests in the same fashion, on the same site.
I logged on to Facebook at some point, where I had recently became intrigued by a Facebook application called “Are You Interested?” The premise is simple enough, you enter some very basic information (age range and geographical location) and are subjected to photographs of users who fit the criteria. When you encounter a picture you can say if you are “interested” (anonymously, or you can make yourself known to the user) or not. In turn, they will see your picture and do the same. If you are both “interested” in each other, the person will wind up in your matches list.
On Valentines Day 2008 I confess I stayed at home and spent some time on the computer, feeling more than a tad sorry for myself. I looked at my “Are You Interested?” matches and decided to add each and every person on the list as a “friend.”
“Surely this would combat my singlehood,” I thought.
The thing I came to realise, though, was beyond a general appreciation of each others’ photographs… I rarely had much in common with these people. This became apparent through a series of Facebook messages and MSN conversations that consisted little more of inane questions like, “How are you?” and “What are you doing this weekend?”
There was an important lesson to be learnt here. The true magic of the internet is its ability to connect you with people who share your interests and passions, from all over the world. When it comes to relationships, subject matter is more important than demographics. Much of the appeal is just from knowing I can talk to people who are very different from anyone I can encounter in my own sleepy town.
It is for this reason I think I appreciate MySpace more. At least there people use their page and blog to express ideas and thoughts and feelings about things that are important to them. This is where true bonding takes place - where common values and passions are being shared.
So rather than, “Are You Interested?” I would suggest a much better question to ask is “Are You INTERESTING?”
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