mental manifestations

Frankly, I just don’t see the point of them.

In the past, I have signed up for Friendster, Orkut, and Facebook, and I have ditched all of them. The only reason why I signed up for those sites originally was because everyone else was literally doing it. I wanted to be a part of it all, but I ditched them once I found out there was nothing attractive to me. I didn’t understand social networks at the time when I signed up for Friendster and immediately left. Orkut was amusing for a while, but I just couldn’t continue aimlessly wandering through random groups and having online conversations with strangers especially when there wasn’t that much to talk about to begin with.

Facebook was was a great way to keep in touch with lots of people (and stalk others). I grew tired of Facebook for the same reasons why I left Orkut. I figure if people want to stay in touch with me, the effort would be mutual. I don’t understand why I have to “friend” everyone I knew back in high school. Maybe it was the camaraderie. Maybe it’s high school and not college. Whatever the reason, I just moved on. There just wasn’t any point to Facebook anymore. Even with the features Facebook added, it wasn’t enough for me to stay with it. That fact that Facebook was just a college social network made it appealing when I first signed up for it. It has since moved on to high schools and now the entire world. What makes Facebook any different than other online social sites?

My biggest problem is that I have no desire to explore these online social networks. I can’t care enough to randomly look up people. Sites like Flickr are great at what they do. They’re designed for one thing instead of trying to do everything. I’m more inclined to explore and talk with people on Flickr than randomly on Friendster. I enjoy looking at various photos because I’ll never know what I’ll stumble across. Online social networks don’t feel special like that. They’re just like phone books to me. I’ll look through once and not care.

I’ve already carved out my interests online through sites like Broken Saints, Flickr, Rooster Teeth, and UruLive. I may not actively participate often in such outlets (I do have a real life I must tend to outside this virtual world), but there is a common ground that attracted me there in the first place where I could share that with others. It is because those sites have purpose to connect us, to bind us, to drive us, and to pull us together.