i sold my soul

Remember just 5 days ago how I was like, "I quit Facebook?" As it turns out, I have sold my soul to Zuckerberg. I registered for StyleMint and JewelMint a while back (it's a website where you earn credits when you buy something and use your credits to buy more, etc.) and I apparently used my Facebook account to register. In order for me to redeem my credits, I had to use my Facebook login which activated my account. Yes, that seems like an excuse. I can redeem my points, cancel the subscription, deactivate and start all over again but that just seems like too much trouble.

I have seen this option a lot more lately where you can register with your Facebook account or you can sign up separately. I always chose the Facebook option because I don't want to bother with filling out the online form and wait for a confirmation email, etc. blah blah blah. Something just occurred to me that has been so obvious all along, is that this is how Facebook is rooting itself into my life like a weed. Those evil genius SOBs.


p.s. I deleted the Facebook app from my phone to save myself from myself. I have a feeling even Facebook will win that fight with myself eventually.

why i deactivated my facebook

I've deactivated my Facebook account so I can spend more time working on my novel.... I wish that were the reason.

Here are my reasons

1.) Seeing what everyone is up to
Facebook has made it so I feel like I need to know what everyone is up to. We were never that way pre-Facebook. I need to wean myself off of that.

2.) Drunk Facebooking
There has been a number of occasions where I've commented on people's Facebook while I'm at a bar drinking. I have no filter after two beers and I become nasty and mean. Some of my drunk Facebook comments have been funny, some mean and embarrassing. So it's either stop drinking or stop Facebooking.

3.) Too many friends
It's not so much the amount of friends I have it's more who I am friends with on Facebook. I am friends with family, friends and co workers and there are only certain information I was a each group to see. Facebook changes so much I have to keep updating my privacy settings and to be honest, it's getting to be a pain in the ass. There is obviously a much larger issue at work here. If I can't share the same information for all three groups, that means I'm living in different worlds. That is true. I do live a bit of a double life and for people who live double lives Facebook requires a little bit more work. (When I say double life, I don't mean I'm like a sweet religious girl by day and hooker by night. It's not that extreme.)

I have recently done things on Facebook while drunk and emotional and highly regret. I am embarrassed by my actions and I figured it's easier to not have to face people on there. From now on, I will just make an ass of myself the old fashioned way, by emailing, texting, IMing and in person.

This is not a knock on Facebook. I don't think it is bad. In this case, I think it's the user that is the problem. I'll activate my Facebook again once I get used to not checking it so much.

Anyway, I know you all will miss my awesome status updates. I'm still on Twitter and Instagram and of course this blog.

I hope I'm able to stay logged off for some time. The hard part will be filling my day at work and may actually have to do work.

The "facebook" photo

I was going to blog about 2011, resolutions, how great 2011 was and all that crap but tonight, I am going to talk about one of my favorites topics, Facebook.

We all like to share the occassional photo here and there. If you're like me, you love taking photos and writing captions for them. Every now and then, you'll come accross the "myspace style" photo that you take of yourself by extending your arms. We've all done it. Yes, I'm sure evn YOU have done it. However, I apparently have been doing them wrong. I guess the perfect "myspace-style" photo is one taken as if a person were standing on a step over you so you are looking up. Yes, that is what I have been told and that it's "hot." So, of course with my desire of wanting to be the "hot girl," I tried this new method of self-photography when I got home (after I slipped into my pjs and hoodie of course).

Here is the result:

Sadly, I took this photo about ten times until I got the one where I don't looke like I'm having a seizure.

So, what's your favorite pose for when you do self-photography?

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I'm going to punch you in the face. *raises threatening fist*

Facebook and people's behavior on social networking sites never ceases to fascinate me. I want to discuss this strange form of communication that I have recently observed. Maybe I'm the only who finds it fascinating, but I'll tell you anyway. People are describing their physical reaction on their status updates as if we (the readers) need the description in order to fully understand the meaning of the post. I understand why people would want to attempt to describe their physical reactions and actions because tone can be difficult to read in a status update or tweet. I have had experiences where my sarcasm is not always read on Facebook and it did not end well. 

Perhaps you have come across this yourself. The description is written after or in between asterisks (*). For example, one would write, "I can't believe my boyfriend just kicked a puppy, *gasp*" or "omg. this club is lame and some lame guy is trying to hit on me *rolls eyes*" or "I'm so mad *stomps foot*." You get the point.

The language on social networking sites (particularly Facebook) is constantly being developed and built upon. Who comes up this stuff? Who decided that initialisms like ROFL (Rolling on the Floor Laughing) or SMH (Shaking my Head) should be used? Slang words are usually conceived by rappers, but who conceives Facebook lingo? Who decided that we should describe our physical actions in-between asterisks? I understand the occasional *sigh* or *grrrr* but add that to emoticons and initialisms and what we have is an entirely new language. The thing about language is that it is much more than just a set of words with definitions. Language carries a history and an entire culture and we use language to communicate and exchange knowledge. I am a big believer in that there should never be a set body of knowledge. Knowledge should constantly be challenged, changed and built upon and I guess one could argue that initialisms and asterisks on Facebook can be seen as contributing to the current body of knowledge. I find that a little disconcerting. We are throwing away full sentences and phrases and we are using silly descriptions like *smiles* and *hugs* to mimic face-to-face interaction without the intimacy of physically interacting with a human being. Mimicry is superficial and if we choose to only communicate on social networking sites, I believe that those relationships therefore, are superficial. 

As a student of Communication, I cannot help but wonder what linguists like Ferdinand de Saussure or Roland Barthes would say about how we currently communicate on Facebook. Perhaps it would look something like this:

"OMG. I can't believe how people communicate on here. It makes me so mad *grinds teeth.* People keep coming up with new acronyms and initialisms I am so confused @_@. Also, why do people feel like they need to tell me when they are hungry or sleepy? I don't care *rolls eyes.* I fear for the well-being of society because these are our future leaders. SMH. That is it. I'm quitting #facebook :P."

(P.S. This post is the result of too much caffeine and too much Facebooking.)