More Blah

[Ben]

For those of you who wondered why on earth you joined Facebook, Myspace or Twitter...

Morons with mobiles sour the tweet life


Social networks prove we are a self-absorbed, dull bunch of twits.

SARAH is at work. Darryl just ate a tuna sandwich with mayo. Bonnie cannot decide what to wear on Saturday night. Karla just saw Public Enemies and thought it was really good because Johnny Depp is totally hot. And Paris Hilton just went for a swim in the ocean and is feeling like Ariel from The Little Mermaid (insert winking smiley face). Oh, and she loves us all. Like totally.

In a week that saw a Greek woman set fire to a horny Brit's genitals, a new lead in the Madeleine McCann case involving an Aussie Posh Spice and our favourite geek K-Rudd accused of being a trigger-happy camel killer, is this really the best commentary we have to offer on life? I'm talking about the thoroughly mundane status updates and tweets on those popular social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, and their revelation that we really are a self-absorbed, dull bunch of twits.

For starters I don't care if you ate a sushi roll, mince in multigrain or an over-nutted pad thai for lunch. Unless you went cannibalistic and popped your neighbour in a taco, it's not interesting and nobody cares. If you love your boyfriend, tell him, not me. And if your shih tzu puppy lasted the whole night without peeing on your new ''buff beige'' shagpile, that's great, tell mum or Yogendra at the milk bar, but don't send your 628 friends into narcoleptic comas. The rule should be - if it's not worth discussing over brunch, it's not worthy of a digital broadcast.

And while we're on brunch catch-ups, soon they'll be joining shoulder pads, hair crimpers and scrunchies in Obsoletesville. After all, there's nothing left to discuss over omelets and macchiatos because our every action and bowel movement has already been communicated online. We find ourselves awkwardly munching our toast as we search our frontal lobe for conversation fodder we might have neglected to post on our page, staring at our equally news-deprived companion as she fills the awkward silences by tapping away on her Facebook Mobile iPhone application - ''Did a spin class this morning. Hectic. Catching up with Jacqui now. Had a berry smoothie with honey. It was yum. Going to pop over to the market and buy some organic chicken thigh fillets for dinner. Or maybe some beef. Stay tuned (smiley face).'' Continued...http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/morons ... tml?page=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And let that be a lesson to you!

Ben

[cooran]

Hey - C'mon Ben! How else can I find out what my kids are doing if I'm not friends with them on Facebook?

metta
Chris

[Ben]

Hi Chris

True, it has its uses. But every time I log on, I despair. As I said to a friend recently, the need of some people to collect 'friends' really diminishes real human relationships. But as you clearly demonstrated, facebook et al do have their very good uses.
Metta

Ben

[Dan74]

I hope Chris was joking.

_/|\_

[DNS]

I receive about one invitation to join those networking sites such as facebook, per week. Do members get some kind of 'brownie points' for 'signing up' new members?

I have resisted joining those sites up to now, but when a Buddhist one started, I thought I'd give it a try. It is okay, but does not have the in-depth Dhamma discussion you find in traditional forums, such as Dhamma Wheel. But it can still be sort of interesting to connect in that arrangement with old friends and new ones.

Here you have the in-depth discussions . . . well, normally, with the exception of some of the "blah" threads.

[Ben]

Hi Dan

Perhaps you don't have teenage or grown-up chidlren!
Kind regards

Ben

[genkaku]

Ben -- A couple of things come to mind:

1. I too have fallen prey to Facebook -- tried it and found it pretty unsatisfying. While touted as a place were people 'connect,' it seems to me to be an activity that just underscores the sorrowful 'disconnect' -- people using a megaphone of sorts to address the universe only to find that the universe is alternatively too superficial for words (no one understands me) or silent and unresponsive to honest needs. But there is nothing like trying it out and finding it doesn't work to encourage users to find another mousetrap.

2. It reminds me of approaches to Buddhism: There are people (me too) who actually imagine that reading a book -- or, preferably lots and lots of books -- will somehow instill the peace and wisdom they seek. But, like Facebook and masturbation, the upside to this fruitless exercise is that it may encourage people to seek out the real McCoy.

3. If you don't want to be a dimwit, cut back on dimwit exercises.

[Ben]

Hi Adam
Thanks for the reality check.

Ben

[christopher:::]

I pretty much ignore the status updates, but do like being able to see what people are up to, when they've taken trips, had weddings, etc. My 16 yr old niece went to Costa Rica with a group to help build a school for poor villagers. I dont think she would have shown me the photos or talked with me directly if not for connecting with her on Facebook.

This years trip back to America has been transformed, actually, thanks to Facebook. I've seen former friends from elementary school, jr high and high school, good people i havent talked to in over 30 years.. Things can get pretty deep quickly, everyone sharing similar life situations of children, parents aging, career challenges, problems from bad life habits, etc...

Most of that communication has been in 3D, off screen, but Facebook has served the function of getting us all together again, reconnecting. Kind of like the telephone, it can serve a useful purpose...

[DNS]

but Facebook has served the function of getting us all together again, reconnecting. Kind of like the telephone, it can serve a useful purpose...

I agree, I am still new to the social network type sites, but like anything, I think it can be used in a bad way or it can be used in a good way. A car could be used as a weapon or a mode of transportation to get you some place efficiently and safely.

Numerous members of the ordained Sangha use it to keep in touch and to offer teachings, so it does not look to be too bad. And lay people could use it for similar purposes or for other positive benefits like Christopher quoted. Gibberish and idle chatter, probably not so good, but for learning from each others' experience, asking questions, teaching, getting advice on practice, etc., probably a good resource.