Social Networking is Making Me Ill

Not even in a figurative sense. I'm physically and physiologically growing weary and sick from all of this. First and foremost, I must state: I am complicit; I am part of the problem (a small cog, though) that I'd like to deracinate. Social networking is, in a manner of speaking, an organism -- a technological organism, but an organism no less. Like any organism, it can acquire bugs, viruses, diseases, antagonistic tendencies, and the likes; then, they can pass these viruses on to us hosts, those of us whom allow this organism, which can at times be an invasive one, to take residence in our lives. I feel as if I've gotten the equivalent to some kind of violent strain of influenza from all this social networking, and the major catalyst for this is Google Buzz -- the latest mouthful in the gluttonous feast of self-absorbed social networking. The last little nudge to the sensitive volcano, Buzz has topped everything off for me. I truly can't take much more of this. How socially, psychologically, and technologically thin do we want to spread ourselves? Are we actively trying to replace reality? Is that the goal? As much as I enjoy the professional and networking features of something as potentially useful as Facebook, there's a part of me that loathes the tedium that seems to take predominance. Too much talking about and around trivialities and too much solipsistic disclosure of perfectly inane information is, as the phrase suggests, too much. I've given serious consideration to a long-term project of crafting a novel or a long story entirely out of found Facebook status updates, but the project would be far too soul-crushing. Recently I heard an interesting quote from a scientist who weighed in on the subject of technological sprawl: (paraphrasing here) it's so terribly unfortunate that with all the "connectedness" out there, all the outreach, and all the information, the myriad ways in which we can use this to further educate ourselves, what do we use it for? Reality television, mindless droning, avatars and internet personalities. I almost hope that the skeptics and the cynics are right: that in five, ten years time social networking, facebook, buzz, twitter -- all of it -- will be a distant and embarrassing memory, like slap bracelets or beanie babies. I long to one day struggle to admit, embarrassingly, that "yes, yes I was a part of that blight." 

A few cafés around the Bay Area have gone ahead and done "no technology days" to encourage more social interaction and intercommunal behavior between folks, where if you want to have coffee or a bite to eat or a glass of wine at their place of commerce and communication on this particular day, no computers, cell phones, or iAnythings are allowed; I think it's a wonderful idea and I encourage more businesses to do just this once in a while. There's nothing more depressing and vacuous than walking by or walking into a café and seeing twenty faces buried into the blue-hued screens of their respective computers. Historically -- and even today in many places outside of America --- cafés (and coffee culture as a whole) have always been places for people (friends and strangers alike) to gather and/or meet to discuss their lives, politics, art, philosophy, topics with a touch of import; they were places to make new friendships, strengthen old ones, maybe even learn a little bit, all while enjoying good food and drink. I'm not in any way, shape, or form anti-technology. I'm no luddite; I certainly don't, however, think technology is even a serviceable surrogate for the world in which we inhabit. As a proud, self-avowed introvert I find new social interactions alarmingly uncomfortable, probably more so than most people; but they're profoundly worthwhile and illimitably integral to creating a better world. Last I checked, there's a still a world out there that has yet to be destroyed and people who've yet to be reduced to barbarism. Let's take notice.