Oh Facebook

Social media is great for a lot of things, but there are always people who ruin it for everyone while embarrassing themselves in the process. Thankfully the Oatmeal has created an all-encompassing guide to the annoying-as-hell Facebook friends you have but are too guilty to unfriend.

I am positive that each description fits at least a couple of people I know in an eerily accurate way.

Mood: Apathetic

On a recent television assignment for j-school, an article surfaced which said that social media and technology are to blame for a lack of empathy among their users resulting in more self indulgence and less attention to others. Here’s a more recent version of the article.

Though the study has some merits, there are dangers with putting all of your eggs (blame) in one basket. It’s so easy to blame technology for a person’s behaviour. Not to say it’s not a factor. Go to any mall food court and you’ll see a group of teenage boys sitting in silence poking away at their smartphones. There’s no doubt they’re incapable if communicating with each other, and there’s a larger doubt that they’ll be able to communicate with partners, friends, co-workers, educators etc… in the future, but can we really blame Xbox and Twitter entirely for the disconnect?

Adil Says: Inane Thoughts from an Inane Individual

As we approach the birth of my baby (and by ‘baby’, I mean My City Lives), it’s time to close shop on my guest blogging here on Romi Says and tend to the impending demands of my little guy. Accordingly, my hope was to close out with a bang but with that goal in mind, I found it impossible to settle on one topic. Eventually, like a true dabbler, I settled on several topics and providing my inane thoughts regarding them:

• I’m not a cat person (nothing against them but my preference are Angora Rabbits) but I found myself really interested and moved by the death of Casper the Cat, who boarded the bus  outside his house every day to hitch a ride. I couldn’t help but wonder if Casper were in Toronto, would they make him pay the extra fair now that the TTC has raised its prices? My guess is yes and refusal to do so by Casper would have resulted in a trip to the Toronto Humane society which we recently learnt was one of the more inhumane places in the city.

• I recently received a Facebook Fan Page invite for an individual I have as friend on Facebook. Nothing against them, but I thought it was a peculiar thing for them to do themselves, so much so, that I’m considering the ‘de-friend’. If you’re the one making the fan club of yourself, its probably premature. Just saying.

• Still on Facebook Fan pages, like everyone else I get invites for everything under the sun (and in some cases, a fan club for the ‘sun’ itself). I usually hit accept to support those doing the inviting but the result is a totally skewed picture of who I am on my profile page. I wouldn’t have cared all that much until I started doing interviews and noticed that someone can see who you’re a fan of despite not being friends. So think twice next time you Fan your friend’s Toronto Tantric Lovers page. I know I will.

• Hands up if you know someone trying to improve their exposure by creating a “Help Haiti” campaign. My PSA: There are so many ways to help people; you can easily avoid the self serving.

• Apparently Tiger Woods was spotted coming out a Sex clinic. Do you think a lot of people hear this and think in their head, “I would love to have the problem which lead to that problem”.

All right, that’s it for me. It’s been a pleasure contributing to Romi’s virtual destination of debauchery and I encourage you to do the same. No lie, I just came back from an interview with a journalist who read my first piece on the Mayor race so it really, truly, does get you places. Especially if you are a sex addict who just started your very own Facebook fan club and was looking to drum up followers.

Help Haiti, seriously.

Adil (adil@mycitylives.com)

Shaun Says: Unfriending Gets A Dislike

Our very first guest post! How exciting is that?

Shaun Bernstein is a fellow journalism student. He likes long drives next to a beach and has hair the colour of fire.

Enjoy!

Once upon a time, people used to have real life friends.

It’s true. You’d meet someone new at a party, exchange phone numbers, and make plans socially, maybe for dinner or a movie. Friendships would evolve into unique, complex relationships. Laughs were had, secrets were shared, roadtrips were remembered, and the best roadtrips barely remembered. And if a fight ensued, or a grudge was held, perhaps you didn’t speak for a while.

Of course, those days are long since over. Facebook has taken over whatever friendship means, or used to mean. Hellos have been replaced by pokes, and whatever was once said in a phonecall can now be chopped down to fit in a comment on a wall post. Writing a message is so much simpler than writing someone a letter. Really, when’s the last time anybody sent snail mail?