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By Jacey Gibb

originality right off the bat. Next

to celebrity meltdowns, Facebook
is easily the most susceptible target
for criticisms and complaints, yet it
still remains dominant as the biggest
social-networking website in the
world. Whether you’re complaining
about someone’s non-stop status
updates or commenting on profile
pictures that have a surprising
flesh-to-clothing ratio, the majority
of Facebook gossip is harmless.
However, I’m curious as how
this recent boom in ability to stay
connected will affect our ory in
the long run.

Facebook obviously isn’t the first
platform to allow people to stay in
touch but it’s undoubtedly the most
efficient one. While I’ve been an avid

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snailmailer for years now and use
emails occasionally too, Facebook
has allowed me to keep up to date on
what countless of people have been
up to, without having to put in any
actual effort. A daily glance at my
newsfeed will tell me who is now
friends with who, whose birthday
is coming up and most importantly,
whose aie status just —
from “single” to “it’s complica
This wealth of Radeleaie' is
outstanding, saving me from the
weeks I would have had to wait
before reading a letter telling me the
exact same things, but at what cost?
Before moving to Vancouver,
I indulged in a Facebook friend
purge, severing ties with hundreds
of individuals that I would most
likely never see or hear from again. It
wasn’t because I loathed these people,
but more of an honest acceptance to

 

 

 

myself that I wouldn’t be able to stay
in touch with every single person I
ever had lunch with throughout high
school. It’s not a realistic goal.

For those that remained on my
friends list, one might almost think
we’ve maintained healthy long-
distance friendships, considering I
can tell you several things about their
lives I wouldn’t know otherwise. But
this is solely thanks to Facebook, for
creating a sort of faux friendship. It’s
provided a false sense of interaction
and comradery, leading me to believe
I’m catching up with a person simply
by looking at their profile. Being
‘Facebook friends’ means absolutely
nothing.

I can’t stop thinking about how
staying in touch through Facebook
will affect things in the future.
Relationships that would’ ve been
dropped and never revisited in the

past will now refuse to disappear,
living on forever in cyber space.
I’m not sure humans were meant
to maintain so many different
connections over such great distances
like witnessed today. Social ties aren’t
necessarily made with longevity
in mind. Exactly how long am I
supposed to keep that girl from
my Mathematics group project on
the same list as some of my oldest
friends?

Adding a person as a friend on
Facebook creates a whole world
of issues. While it allows you to
learn helpful information, such as
what they like or whether they’d be
offended if you made a dead baby
joke, it also manifests a fake sense of
intimacy with the individual, whether
it’s with a new friend or an old one.
I think I'll stick to my day-to-day
conversations and postage stamps.

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