I mean, it sounds okay to be liberated, but what if you just don't spend 50 minutes on it per day? Also, what about the argument of keeping in touch with all your high school friends and distant relatives? What about all the things I would've found out on facebook that I'm now missing out on?
Facebook doesn't just keep you in contact with old friends, it encourages you to stalk their public facing persona. There's none of the mystery and personal discovery that creates the bonds of friendship. It's not real friendship. It's like being a super fan to an amateur musician - a one way street with occasional responses.
The fear of missing out? That's just one of the many addictive strings that Facebook tugs to manipulate you. The things that happen on Facebook don't matter. If something is important then it is far better to discover it outside of Facebook. In the end, nothing is that important.
There are other ways of keeping up with old friends and relatives. Listen to gossip from other friends and family. Keep in contact with them using email, telephone and post. If you don't maintain some link then they should be resigned to the past - until some event occurs to trigger a re-established connection.
> The things that happen on Facebook don't matter.
In my own experience, that's just not true. Facebook has facilitated lots of social interactions for me that simply would not have happened otherwise. Some examples:
- I was doing an internship in Australia for a few months. I posted a picture of the beach on Facebook, an old friend from highschool whom I hadn't talked to in years saw it, commented that I should come visit her in Melbourne. I did, and we met and caught up on life.
- A friend of mine invited me to go to a music festival with her friends. She added me to a group message on Facebook that they were using to plan logistics, etc. After the festival, we continued using the chat to plan other social activities.
- Casual acquaintances that I met once or twice invite me to parties, etc.
Can these things happen without Facebook? Technically, I suppose so. Realistically, I think they would happen less frequently. IMO there's a big difference between Messenger/Events/Groups (facilitates a lot of real interactions) vs News Feed/Profiles (stalking other people).
> There's none of the mystery and personal discovery that creates the bonds of friendship. It's not real friendship.
It's up to us to define what friendship we consider real or not. Personally I find mystery an unpleasant waste of time.
> It's like being a super fan to an amateur musician - a one way street with occasional responses.
Huh? There's no asymmetry if you're both using Facebook.
> If you don't maintain some link then they should be resigned to the past - until some event occurs to trigger a re-established connection.
Screw your "should". Plenty of times I've found out via Facebook that someone was going to an event near me, or just had a common interest, and met up with them as a result. And that's been fun.
I only keep in contact with 3 high school friends and generally call them once and awhile. And spend weekends with each other once or twice a year. Relatives send me cards and call on birthdays. See then about the same amount. Don't see a need to be constantly engaged with their lives.
