RayVillian

My Social Site History

I am interested in social sites because I avoided them as long as I could.
When I was in middle school, the internet was viewed as a game of anonymity.
My friends would log into chat rooms and be whoever they wanted. The fun was in believing the other people were honest and you alone were lying, but users soon realized everyone was lying.
When I was in high school, AIM became an everyday activity. Friends who could not go out because of their parents rules would settle for internet interactions.
When I entered College everyone was on facebook or myspace. Friends who were not enrolled in college created myspace accounts, while those who were created facebook accounts.
My Best friend created and managed my facebook and myspace account for a year. I never cared for socialinternetworking, a term I use to define the elaborate schematics of social sites on the web today.
Only a year ago did I take control of the sites under my name. The first thing I could not accept was the idea of internet friendships. On myspace, I accrued friend request from individuals I never heard of. After many denials I began to accept, and then I realized myspace was a dating site. People posted a blurb that summed up their personality along with their media likes and dislikes. Clearly affiliation to certain movies and songs described and categorized a person better than blurbs could because those list were long, while individual words were limited. Needless to say I didn’t like the site. I could not sum myself up in media.
On facebook, I also accrued friend request, and accepted. For the most part I am not “friends” with a good many of my friends, but I do see benefits to remaining connected to people. I use facebook like an address book, where I can contact people if I need to, and if there is information I’d like to share I post links to a few media sources.
But there are so many other social sites out there. I have explored a few new ones (to me) very recently such as twitter, tumblr, and flikr. When I view these sites I view their structure and how information is shared among users. Viewing these alternate sites helped me realize that people have found a new way to communicate, and the sites aren’t going anywhere. They will change and evolve to meet the needs of people, but people are going to look toward the internet to connect instead of the local bar or library.
In conclusion, I am not opposed to social sites,  I see their usefulness in circulating communal thoughts, but I think it is best in moderation. Unfortunately, many people are addicted to social sites, and connect their identity with what is relayed on their page. The addiction is just as bad as any addiction, because reliance on the internet for all socialization cripples the users by denying them body language and the vocal inflection of conversation. A healthy balance is hard to calculate but essential for those who live and function in both realms of reality.

-R. Villian