Saturday 17 September 2011

13:57 The People's Democratic Republic of Zuckerberg

Here's a wee revelation for a Saturday - Facebook is a telescreen.

Sorry to break it to you but it is.

TRUTH. 
FACT.

Not even a wee bit of a fact - One of those huge stonewallers like "stepping in front of a high speed train will result the messy and instant cessation of life" (and a rather large and unpleasant cleaning job for the poor bloke with the pressure washer back at the station).

It's a fact that a ridiculously large and growing number of people seem to paper over while they gleefully post every single facet of their life in GLORIOUS Technicolour for everyone else to pour over like a creepy voyeur.  

Likes, Dislikes, Work, information, sexual preferences, religious beliefs,  films you like, music, sports, where you are, what you're doing, who you're with, pictures, videos, what you think, what you thought yesterday, what you'll be thinking tomorrow.... all constant. 

A big stream of information spreading out on a web to everyone you've ever known. We give this information up freely to the big Telescreen for scrutiny. Orwell would be fucking astounded. 

Remember back in the day when you could leave school/a job/the country and not have to see people you didn't want to see any more? GONE. People now add you on Facebook because you went to school in the same year as you and remember your name. Even if didn't speak to them. Or like them. Or knew that they existed. 

You have a friend request from that auld dear that served you a stake bake in Greggs on Union Street that one time back in March. You feel obliged to accept -why?

Now you know every single facet of every person you have ever interacted with's life played out in real time right down to the frequency, constancy, colour and size of their bowel movements.

Call me old fashioned but this has taken the magic out of human interaction a wee bit. 

Like when that wee tit with the mask went round spoiling all of magic's greatest illusions by showing the viewer every step in minute detail.

What people mostly post on Facebook is not actually reality anyway. It's a bizarre augmented reality. A game of oneupmanship played out to show everybody else on your we how great your life is/will be, how cool you are, how great your friends/partner/dog is. 

We all guilty of this posting guff up.

I am as guilty as anyone else though, I have a Facebook and use it regularly. I fully understand it's akin to wanking in front of a mirror  while making a conference call to everyone you know and describing every last detail. Yet I don't stop. Nobody does.

I love blogging though. I feel like i'm more likely to post stuff that matters to me on this wee blog, be more honest and generally have something to say. Plus it's not instantly connected to an ultranet of everyone i ever have met for dissemination and dissection.  There's so many millions of blogs out there that my presence here is teeny.

It's like shouting out my window at the top of my voice - someone randomly walking by might hear it, look and wonder what the fuck I'm up to, perhaps a couple of close pals will hear but that's aboot it. Unless i want people to know. 

And I kinda like that. 

END RANT.

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