Very nice piece of writing by @johnconstine on TechCrunch. How FB is now everywhere. He goes through a person’s life when they were just a sonogram shared on face book to their teens to proposing to someone to getting engaged to getting married to having a kid, and finally looking through their FB posts. Very nicely done.
From then on, every action you take and thought you think will be accompanied by a little background decision to be made: “Should I share this on Facebook?” Every sunset, surprise, and sexy face. Yes, you are thirteen years old and deciding which photo you look least ugly in so you can set it as your profile picture. When your parents walk in, you switch to another website or hit enter over and over until your chat history climbs out of view.
Each person you meet must be classified. To friend, or not to friend? Will their life provide enough entertainment? Will this weak tie generate opportunities down the road? Will connecting online make you more likely to connect offline again someday? The decision is not yours alone. It is theirs, but also society’s. The social contract demands courtesy. Accept their friendship, don’t break their heart. Then you’ll spend five seconds every year from then on either deciding not to wish them a happy birthday, or doing so as efficiently as possible.
Read the full article here. [link]
(pic courtesy – the same techcrunch link as above)