I've lived too long in my 'second life' I need to be less 'virtual' and face reality

When I was in university, I considered this as a topic for my dissertation.  There are so many social networking sites from MySpace to Facebook to Twitter and of course Second Life to name but a few.

I find it fascinating that people (me included) spend so much time on these virtual communities and the how these communities have grown and morphed.  Are we moving away from our 'first life' communities and real life interactions?  I actually have friends on FB that I have never met in person, is this weird or just the way of the world now?  These communities are diverse and varied and they all seem to come together and share, sometimes over share in this electronic environment.  There seems to be little concern by the majority for intellectual property rights in the form of photographs, ideas or images being made public.

Are the majority of us still capable of interacting in real life social environment?  This leads also into the massive rise of internet dating. (another blog)

I really do have a problem with my internet addiction..predominately Facebook.


This morning I deactivated my account, will anyone notice?  Will anyone email me and question why they can't see my updates, pictures or comments?  Facebook is a largely narcissistic endeavour. (as is blogging) :) So will anyone acknowledge my absence, or does death in virtual world mean death in real world like in the Matrix. Will my 'friends' just assume someone has pulled me out and I'm now running for my life away from some scary machines.

You login on a daily basis and attempt to outwit you friends by having the most humorous response to FB's request of 'what's on your mind?'  You assume people are interested in your baby, holiday, wedding photos and what you are doing.  If they were interested wouldn't they email or call?  Or is this just this century's way of making all our social interactions easier, lazier....less intimate.


You 'like' inane groups and create chain mail messages about 'if you know a mother...send this on' blah blah blah.

Then there's your friend count...people who you've met once whilst travelling or went to high school or worked with many years ago.  Some of who you probably don't even like but you just can't ignore their friend request...well that'd be rude wouldn't it?  Once they’re on your list you're screwed you can't delete them, what if they notice?  Will that create a social faux pas that will result in a cascade of friend losses when they complain about you via message.


I spend an inordinate amount of time on FB, I am completely and utterly hooked, I love every aspect of it...social butterfly that I am.  Even have the iPhone app.  It has proven to be a very useful tool for me to keep in touch with friends globally, post photos of my travels that my family can see and reduced the amount of emails I had to send saying where in the world I was. I even embarrassingly have to admit when I'm in an area with no wireless - it kills me, I go into an almost drug withdrawal state.  Looking for any available computer that is online to get my hit.


Personally it bothers me as I preach to anyone who'll listen "I'm not an addictive personality, there is nothing that you could take away from me that I couldn't live without."  HA!

Anthropologically I find it immensely intriguing and would love to do a further thesis study scenario type on this topic.


So see how long I can go cold turkey without FB, my bets are on less than 24hrs. :)