Get a Room...or at Least an Inbox!

We, as human beings, desire a connection. We want to feel as though we belong to something. This is why social networking is so popular because it gives us this sense that we are connected to people and that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. This is of course false. Social networking only makes us FEEL like we're connected, but it doesn't actually connect us to people. This is not a Facebook bash. If anyone knows me, they know I spend a good amount of time on Facebook, especially during my slow times of the year, but that doesn't mean that I feel connected to the people I am friends with on there.

I have over 800 friends on my Facebook, but out of those 800 "friends" I rarely ever talk to more than twenty to thirty on a regular basis. There are some that I have never posted on their wall and they have never posted on mine. There are others who I haven't seen in years and who I may never see again. It amazes me sometimes the people who send me requests. One of my friends posted yesterday, "Why do people send you friend requests if you never talk". I said it's because we are all secret stalkers. Seriously though, it is this deep sense of needing to feel connected that causes us to expand our "friends" list.

Sometimes I feel like my Facebook is an ever changing yearbook. I do love keeping up with the people I went to college with and see where their lives have taken them, to see their ever growing families, and to see the amazing things that they are up to. Whether or not I "talk" to them on a regular basis has little to do with why I have them added on Facebook. I like to know that I am not the only one of my friends who loves the beach, or gets sad when they watch a certain movie, or that I'm not the only person my age who still hasn't found the love of their life. I do feel as though it's about the bigger picture, about not wanting to be alone in this world and taking anything we can get, even if it is only interaction with a screen.

All of that being said, I do wish that people would spend more time with me outside of that little world we've created on the www. Alas, it does not happen as often as I'd like. I try to stay truly connected as much as I can, but it's difficult.

As far as the title of this blog is concerned...well...just because we are "connected" doesn't mean I want to see all of the cute mushiness that comes along with being a Facebook couple. Seriously, it's sickening. Ok...some of it's kind of sweet, but there are days (and I'm going to assume that I'm having one now) that I look at that stuff and think, really, really, you are going to put all of that saccharin laced verbiage out there for the world to see. End rant? I guess I will, for today, end my rant and let go of the fact that although I complain about the sweetness, if I were being totally honest, it is because I am jealous. But, shh, don't tell anyone.