Sometimes I think that the advent of all the new ways to keep track of people has ruined some of the innocence that we all used to have and that our* children will probably never have. I remember a time when to playfully stalk someone you had a crush on you had to get your butt in the car and drive by their house....sometimes multiple times in the evening....to see what they were doing. Now, you can be the person's facebook friend or follow them on twitter or google them on the internet and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your pajamas** in order to know what they are doing at every moment of the day. I guess it's hard to say whether that's better or worse than physically getting out there and driving past the person's house, but I somehow feel like it is. At least when I was doing the stalking of my youth I was active about it. It meant something. It meant that I was putting a decent amount of effort into driving by that person's house...repeatedly...
One time we spent 5 hours in the car driving around a neighborhood to look at the house's of boys on the Greenway Basketball Team. Why? Because we were teenage girls, we had a car, we had lots of time on our hands, and the thrill of the hunt cannot be denied. Sure, some of you may think that I hung out with weirdos or am strange for doing that, but I think it's a normal teenage thing or at least it was in my day. I've become old recently. Yes, yes, 30 is the new 20, but still, I'm old. I'm somewhat set in my ways. And I'm completely nostalgic for simpler times. Times when it wasn't as easy as sitting at home in front of my computer to find out what every person I have ever met is doing at 10PM on a Wednesday night. It's mind-boggling to me that a) I care and b) I can find out so easily.
I guess that perhaps the strangest thing is that I'm not generally that interested in what other people are doing. That sounds way more arrogant than I meant it to be. Um...I do care what other people are doing, but I don't feel like I have enough time or energy to care about what's going on in my own life, let alone what's going on in the lives of people I haven't seen in over 10 years...and yet...I've gotten sucked in. Facebook especially is like this black hole of knowledge that sucks me in. I find myself powerless to get away. I just keep reading. Keep finding people that I haven't spoken to in years. Keep posting. But why? Why is it so damn fascinating to know what's going on in the lives of other people all the time? And yes, I do get that posting something like this on a blog about my life might be ironic, but I do it with a straight face.
When did it become almost socially unacceptable not to be hooked in to everyone all day? If you don't have a "smart phone" and the internet and a computer and a bunch of "social networking" accounts at your fingertips at every second, people tend to give you the stink eye. Why? What's so social about social networking? Especially because it allows us to almost disconnect and become invisible watchers to everyone we know. Big Brother is here and it's us. We are watching.
I don't say all this as a holier-than-thou rant about how superior I am for having a stupid phone and limiting myself to about 15 minutes a day on the facebook. No, I don't. I'm in it to win it with everyone else. It just made me wonder today about what is happening to us. Is this the new world order? Do I know what that phrase means? Am I asking questions to the ether in order to avoid writing my dissertation? The answer to all those questions is likely yes.
Speaking of which, I have to go write my dissertation now as I sit in my office at school drinking water and listening to relaxing sounds on my ipod and contemplating eating dinner even though it's only 4:30 in the afternoon. More details on facebook if you want them.
*When I say, "our", what I mean is "your" because I don't have any children.
**To be fair, we also used to drive around in our pajamas.
