The title for this post would have been 'Facebored' if not for the fact that BBC had used it before, in a television report several years back.
Back then, around 2009, it had already discounted Facebook (FB) as a site with limited offerings and predicted that users would get bored of it pretty soon.
Personally, I am already kinda bored with FB. Although I still log on to it daily, I spend less than 10 mins each time.
Yes, it is nice to keep in touch with your friends and loved ones, especially when everyone is too busy for anyone.
After a while, it's the 'same old, same old' day in, day out. Posting photos, poking, writing on walls for birthdays, sharing links for merchandise.
FB is about self-gratification and self-indulgence. Everyone trying to make everyone else envious of the ramen/beef steak/ nasi lemak you had at Namba/Oxford Street/Chomp Chomp. Or the wild and happening party you had last night with beautiful hunks and babes, with endless bottles of Dom Perignon, JW Blue Label or Belvedere. Not to mention your new body kit/ rims/ spoiler on your BMW/Audi/Subaru.
Before you dismiss me as an old, balding geezer with thick spectacles and zero social life, I would like to clarify myself. I am as narcissistic as they come. I have tons of clothes, which takes my built-in, full length wardrobe have trouble containing. Self-indulgence is my best friend. I drink, eat, party and make merry at a time when my peers are taking their 5 year olds to Shicida Method every week. I trim my brows, work out and watch my diet. You get the drift.
Thus, I am more than qualified to comment on my own 'species'. Posting your fun photos on FB is normal. (No one posts photos of them crying on FB) However, doing it almost everyday is overdoing it. Everyone is in a competition to inflate their own egos. You take a step back and tell yourself, where is this going? Is there more depth in us?
People suffering from depression, or lack of self-confidence, should not visit FB at all. All this false images and conjured notions of happiness shatters your chance of recovery and sinks you lower. You drown in all this pretense, and probably you come out worse off.
As a student of sociology and communication, I feel that we should harness the power of social media for the good of society, instead of degrading to such hedonistic acts. Empower people through information.
The 2011 Jasmine Revolution in the Middle East was a great example, although I am not saying we should overthrow the government. We should share useful information, make society and its citizens more aware, more conscious and more thoughtful. Give a voice to the voiceless and stand for our rights.
A colleague told me about this Mr T, an editor of some magazine, with over 10,000 followers on Twitter, 'Famous' person, which I never heard about. I chuckled to myself, as he seems to be awestruck by this 'achievement'. 10k followers is nothing is you are not contributing to society. However, it seems to be the trend that many groups of young people are trying to come up with their own version of mini 'Hollywood'. Many of them like to blow their own trumpet with trivial 'achievements', and what better way than social media?
It's 2012. Singaporeans are still deem ungracious, selfish and ugly. Isn't it time that we alter that image? Aren't we a first-world, developed rich country, up there with Hong Kong, Japan and Korea? Our mentality and attitude needs alot of catching up.
Which is why I will do my part with my own FB account now, posting information worth sharing; political and social. I hope it will influence people around me to do the same, because one voice may be a whimper, a sea of accumulated voices is a loud roar.
Back then, around 2009, it had already discounted Facebook (FB) as a site with limited offerings and predicted that users would get bored of it pretty soon.
Personally, I am already kinda bored with FB. Although I still log on to it daily, I spend less than 10 mins each time.
Yes, it is nice to keep in touch with your friends and loved ones, especially when everyone is too busy for anyone.
After a while, it's the 'same old, same old' day in, day out. Posting photos, poking, writing on walls for birthdays, sharing links for merchandise.
FB is about self-gratification and self-indulgence. Everyone trying to make everyone else envious of the ramen/beef steak/ nasi lemak you had at Namba/Oxford Street/Chomp Chomp. Or the wild and happening party you had last night with beautiful hunks and babes, with endless bottles of Dom Perignon, JW Blue Label or Belvedere. Not to mention your new body kit/ rims/ spoiler on your BMW/Audi/Subaru.
Before you dismiss me as an old, balding geezer with thick spectacles and zero social life, I would like to clarify myself. I am as narcissistic as they come. I have tons of clothes, which takes my built-in, full length wardrobe have trouble containing. Self-indulgence is my best friend. I drink, eat, party and make merry at a time when my peers are taking their 5 year olds to Shicida Method every week. I trim my brows, work out and watch my diet. You get the drift.
Thus, I am more than qualified to comment on my own 'species'. Posting your fun photos on FB is normal. (No one posts photos of them crying on FB) However, doing it almost everyday is overdoing it. Everyone is in a competition to inflate their own egos. You take a step back and tell yourself, where is this going? Is there more depth in us?
People suffering from depression, or lack of self-confidence, should not visit FB at all. All this false images and conjured notions of happiness shatters your chance of recovery and sinks you lower. You drown in all this pretense, and probably you come out worse off.
As a student of sociology and communication, I feel that we should harness the power of social media for the good of society, instead of degrading to such hedonistic acts. Empower people through information.
The 2011 Jasmine Revolution in the Middle East was a great example, although I am not saying we should overthrow the government. We should share useful information, make society and its citizens more aware, more conscious and more thoughtful. Give a voice to the voiceless and stand for our rights.
A colleague told me about this Mr T, an editor of some magazine, with over 10,000 followers on Twitter, 'Famous' person, which I never heard about. I chuckled to myself, as he seems to be awestruck by this 'achievement'. 10k followers is nothing is you are not contributing to society. However, it seems to be the trend that many groups of young people are trying to come up with their own version of mini 'Hollywood'. Many of them like to blow their own trumpet with trivial 'achievements', and what better way than social media?
It's 2012. Singaporeans are still deem ungracious, selfish and ugly. Isn't it time that we alter that image? Aren't we a first-world, developed rich country, up there with Hong Kong, Japan and Korea? Our mentality and attitude needs alot of catching up.
Which is why I will do my part with my own FB account now, posting information worth sharing; political and social. I hope it will influence people around me to do the same, because one voice may be a whimper, a sea of accumulated voices is a loud roar.
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