Does anyone want to be my friend?
How did this become the end of human interaction as I find myself staring at a screen four to five times a day sending a message to either someone I know or some weirdo I just met? The phenomena of online chatting, specifically MySpace, was supposed to be a networking tool for the photography work I do. Instead I’ve made 80 “friends” and only one of them knows how to hold a camera. I made friends with party people, the unemployed and the province of Newfoundland.
I’m waiting for an invite from Quebec anytime now.
All day long we’re sending little notes to “friends” about shows, stories and parties that are happening. We stare at the screen and “pimp” our pages to attract more people to be our friends. It’s like the electronic version of passing notes in class, only without getting caught. I recently went to a party during the holidays where everyone was from MySpace.
So, where are your real friends, the ones you’ve made since school or work or on the street? Oh, they’re also on another online chat forum.
I came across Facebook when I was looking for a friend, as I didn’t have his number. I entered a world where everyone is connected to everyone by association. It’s six degrees of online separation. The Concordia connection is the largest in Montreal, as the student body knows each other in many ways. Also knowing each other’s many secrets. We all have a little dirt on each other, which can be revealed to the those who link up to each other.
Scary, I know. For example, the guy who’s cruising for chicks online as he doesn’t do the bar scene (seriously, who picks up girls on Facebook?) And unlike real life, it takes a while until these girls can figure out what kind of person he really is.
The appeal of these sites is that they don’t truly reveal the way we are in person. It’s harder to turn down someone online because let’s face it, we like the company and the fantasy.
So then, why the appeal? Simple, we all want someone to be our friend.
We try to get as many friends as possible, either a stranger or someone we haven’t seen or heard in a while.
Who are your real friends? The ones you see and know so well or the ones to whom you type two sentences every once in a while? What ever happened to going out and seeing everyone in the flesh? Hard to when you’re swamped with homework and not everyone owns a cellphone.
We forget there is an outside (look it’s sunny outside, log off and go talk to some three dimensional people). We miss having company. We want someone to be our friend; it’s an isolated world out there.
For the love of god, could someone be my friend?
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