The dangers and annoyances of online profiles

I MAKE THE CLAIM that sites like MySpace are bad for the very reason they are is popular. It connects people as only a soulless automaton can, artificially and yet without pretense.

The unreasonably popular MySpace has more problems than slow loading times. Stalkers are dealt with though voluntary and yet not mandatory personal security measures. Such advice boils down to not letting strangers see your candy or let them offer you their own.
It and other social networking sites point to a discouraging trend in social interaction.

But if you can get past excruciating design flaws and buggy interfaces, MySpace has a number of endearing features, doesn’t it? It makes it easier to connect with old friends, if only because so many people have a MySpace. As I’m sure we are all aware, popularity is as sure a measure of merit as Oprah’s Book Club.

Charming amenities, eh? Meeting people, listening to music, posting blogs, building a friendly network. It doesn’t matter if you know the people in your network or not. Each of them is still one of your 12,000 friends.

Twelve-thousand people? And, either through reality or the interwebs, you are at least intermittently familiar with all of them? Impressive. MySpace must really improve communication.

But this isn’t real communication, as far as communication between friends should be. Messages typed into a computer are not real social communication; real social communication not just talking to someone but also experiencing their reaction. What they have to say in response is very often not what they mean.

Furthermore, how do you know they’re telling the truth? For all you know, you or the friends you met through MySpace have built up a veritable castle of fortified lies and delusions around themselves in order to fulfill their own misguided self-image.

How many times have you known someone to type a quick “lol” though they actually feel very little like laughing out loud? How many times have you known someone to neglect commenting on a blog which seems insulting? How many times have you known someone to use MySpace to bolster his or her ego?
How many times has that someone been you?

Taking all direct consequence and personal contact and truthful reaction out of social interaction gets you the Internet. Adding 50 million egotistical adolescents gets you MySpace.

I challenge you to unplug thyself. How do the12,000 friends matter if you avoid talking to any of them in person? Say this with me on the count of three: “Tom is no friend of mine.” Was that so hard? This time, say it again and understand what it means. That will prove to be more difficult.

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