Sure, it’s not like I have – or ever had – a online following per se. It’s mostly me talking to my respective screen… But I also use this soapbox, no matter how short, to work through some things that come to mind. Taking the time to write things is something I enjoy.
Yeah, that’s some beauty pageant kind of deep thinking…
Anyway… Get to the point already. Drum roll please…
It seems of late that personal blogs have gone the way of Vanilla Ice. Into the realm of jokes like “oh, you have a blog?” or those that have blogs and think they are some media rock star… Sure, there are notable exceptions… but those aren’t the rule.
Why has this come about? Well, it’s because of Facebook you silly goose. I know many people that had personal blogs, but they’ve gone away thanks to Facebook. And weirder still, I know more than a few that then get pissed at the intrusiveness of Facebook and quit it all when a blog was doing them so well in the first place.
The ability for an individual to create a blog is a great thing. It’s a space that a person can define what they want to express, how they express it, and so many more things. Facebook kinda gave those things with the ease of connecting with a myriad of different people. I’m fine with saying I’m friends with whomever from my grade school and high school misadventures, but it’s gotten to be such a watered down proposition to be friends with someone on Facebook.
I guess the quick and easy communication with an ability to express ones self just steers people more and more towards Facebook to the expense of other communication outlets (both digital and analog).
And don’t get me started on the Farmville crap… Anyway… Refocus…
The funniest thing about it all was that I don’t hear from many friends as much now that we’re “friends” on Facebook. I think it’s because they feel that tabs are being kept just because we all change our status from time to time.
It all saddens me a little. I love the blog as a platform and space to be yourself… Facebook itself started out as a great idea, but it’s become what AOL was at its worst but ten times as powerful.
In the meantime, I’m gonna continue to blog to my invisible audience. I wish more would blog. I realize that it requires more time and effort, but it also means more to me when I can read something that took time and effort… Not just some fleeting link to a story in a feed with a short little rant or plea to join in some weird, crappy little flash app. Not just some status update and people liking something about weather, babies, or politics.
By the way, I want “Dislike” and “I Dont Care” options on my status updates on Facebook. It’d be more helpful than just “like” or comment.