Facelurk / faes lerk / v 1. the act of stalking via the on-line networking tool, Facebook. 2. a form of procrastination, usually performed when one is at work or bored at home; useage seen most frequently on Mondays and Saturday nights. See also: creeping. I am almost too ashamed to admit it: yes, I have facelurked. I have facelurked in the past, continue in the present, and will in the future. It is inevitable. Does this make me a creep? Probably. But it doesn't seem so terrible because everybody else is doing it. (Spare me the Brooklyn Bridge analogy.) My brand of facelurking includes browsing people's photos and checking my News Feed for status updates. I will sometimes find myself clicking through the 305th picture out of 1,879 of someone's posted photographs that I have literally not spoken to since Junior High. I then ask myself why the hell I care what outfit this person was wearing on their birthday last year and either close out of Facebook for the time being...or bounce over to someone else's more interesting Facebook to facelurk further.
I do not consider myself a creep because Facebook is inherently a creepy device. I have witnessed people creeping on other people via Facebook. I have witnessed firsthand men lurking through other women's Facebook accounts and rating them: not on a scale of 1-10, but ranking her a "but-her-face" or "hot." I know--ugh! I have also heard of guys creeping on a girls' Facebook to check her "Looking For" status before asking her out on a date. Hello! Do you think a girl really thinks about her "Looking For" status once she has finished activating her Facebook account? Facebook is not meant to be read into that deeply. My advice? Try face to face conversation. It's been around for years. I guarantee you will gather more genuine information that way.
I digress. Why is Facebook used so frequently for time-wasting? Yes, it serves a purpose: it helps us keep in touch with our friends and family. But I bet you five American dollars that you neither speak to nor have active relationships with 9/10ths of your Facebook "friends." Is Facebook just another narcissistic time-waster where we post our status and think that people actual read or care what we are thinking or doing at that very moment (much like a blog, then)?
Or is Facebook something different altogether? Check out this video and re-think your membership to the Facebook: The Truth about Facebook.
Take all this with a grain of salt, as all things, of course. I won't be de-activating my Facebook account anytime soon, but it's all interesting to think about!
I do not consider myself a creep because Facebook is inherently a creepy device. I have witnessed people creeping on other people via Facebook. I have witnessed firsthand men lurking through other women's Facebook accounts and rating them: not on a scale of 1-10, but ranking her a "but-her-face" or "hot." I know--ugh! I have also heard of guys creeping on a girls' Facebook to check her "Looking For" status before asking her out on a date. Hello! Do you think a girl really thinks about her "Looking For" status once she has finished activating her Facebook account? Facebook is not meant to be read into that deeply. My advice? Try face to face conversation. It's been around for years. I guarantee you will gather more genuine information that way.
I digress. Why is Facebook used so frequently for time-wasting? Yes, it serves a purpose: it helps us keep in touch with our friends and family. But I bet you five American dollars that you neither speak to nor have active relationships with 9/10ths of your Facebook "friends." Is Facebook just another narcissistic time-waster where we post our status and think that people actual read or care what we are thinking or doing at that very moment (much like a blog, then)?
Or is Facebook something different altogether? Check out this video and re-think your membership to the Facebook: The Truth about Facebook.
Take all this with a grain of salt, as all things, of course. I won't be de-activating my Facebook account anytime soon, but it's all interesting to think about!
In this day and age, and especially in the future, no one can afford to be without a protective layer of privacy. facebook intrudes on that layer of privacy. It might be wise for one to rethink how he or she uses facebook as the future unfolds into the present.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Don Quixote--er--Incognito. Also known as "John"!
ReplyDelete