Since being back in Australia, I've met a some new people and as a fluke of nature, I didn't ask them for their facebook details. Instead, I've been taking the time to actually spend my second, third, etc. meetings with them in person. What a difference it makes! I obviously don't need to elaborate on the explosion of facebook use. You can see the progession of Bill & Sue's newborn baby WHILE sifting through the alcohol-ridden clubbing career of Joe Nguyen and his posse--at the same time! Sure, it's amazing that all this information is literally a few bytes away at your fingertips. But what's the point of sharing yourself with people face-to-face if they can just find out everything from facebook? Granted, logging onto facebook is a more efficient way of 'catching up'. It saves you a trip down to a local cafe for some vocal exchange, right?
Shamefully, I have to admit that I've met new people and after 'facebook friending' them, I've judged their character based on what I see there. Facebook "nutshells" peoples' personalities so well that I find myself stereotyping a person's very existence based on some text & photos.
What's wrong with this picture?
Well, doesn't this deprive you from being able to develop some proper social skills? Even if you're not compatible with this person's lifestyle or personality, isn't it better to find out at a NATURAL pace? By assessing them through facebook, you skip valuable lessons in social etiquette.
Getting to know someone face-to-face also preserves the exciting anticipation about what his/her thoughts and experiences are. To have a person naturally show their personality to you, one layer at a time, is something amazing. I'm not sure I want it to be summarized before me.
I'll take it as it comes.
Damn you faceboooook!
