With the popularity of social networks on the rise, it’s hard not to become drawn in.  Lately it seems that all you hear about are Facebook, MySpace, WhereAreYouNow, LinkedIn and the like.  Rarely a day goes by without finding an invitation to one of these little online gatherings in my Inbox.  While I’ve managed to resist the temptation to join most, I did find myself accepting one for Facebook. At first, I thought the whole thing was great.  I invited my Mommy friends to join along, and soon we were sharing pics from all of our latest playdates, pool parties, kids birthdays and ballet classes.  It seemed the perfect solution.  Just post the info in one place instead of having to attach photos to an email, scoping through your address book - who should I send to?, oops those files are too heavy for so and so, the dreaded bouncebacks, bombarding friends who might not have the time or even be that interested, etc, etc.  Now everything was easy accessible, all in one place, friends could check it out when and if they wanted to, and even post their comments or share their own pics.  The set-up seemed flawless. The problem?  It didn’t stop there…  I lost sight of the goal - the original reason why I joined in the first place.

The problem with Facebook, is that the concept in and of itself is great if you manage to contain the group in your immediate network and view invitations with scrutiny.  But how?  Once you’re on it, the network becomes self-populating.  One day you have 10 friends and then wake up with 20!  The next day 30!  You soon find yourself connected with people you went to elementary school with, half your graduating class from high school, colleagues from your first job and the girl from your bus stop from when you were like 12 yrs old. And that’s when it became so blatantly clear to me… 

Facebook, for many, is 15 minutes of fame.  Another chance at popularity.  A rise above mediocrity or at the very least, a chance to create an illusion, put your best face forward and then share with as many people as possible.  I soon realized that the majority of the people sending out these invites, were not in fact old friends looking to catch up and reconnect, but rather a group of sad souls suffering from a bad case of “Look at me now” syndrome. It’s actually more of a popularity contest, because let’s face it, you can’t truly have 150 friends, I don’t care how great you are.  Which actually raises the question:  Who the hell even wants 150 friends?  I barely find the time to talk to my spouse, let alone carry on a dialogue with 150 other people!  Am I alone here?  Granted, you can have 150 acquaintances, but does that qualify them to peer into the fishbowl that is “your life.”  Find out what your mood is on any given day.  What you’re doing at any given moment. See your vacation photos. Read what your “true” friends write on your wall (aka) messages viewed by your entire network. Find out where you live, work, marital status and more…?  I’m not so sure.

Could Facebook, in fact, be considered a form of modern-day voyeurism?  Are regular everyday folks becoming the “new” celebrity? I think so. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are still some positives.  Facebook has allowed me to catch up with some people that I had genuinely lost touch with and am thrilled to have back in my life. Plus it lets me stay in touch with friends who moved abroad. On the other hand, linger too long and Facebook fast becomes a highly-addictive fishbowl-like experience that will have you peering in for your daily dose of who, what, where within your “six degrees of separation.”

If you haven’t yet taken the plunge, here’s my advice:  Go in with a goal, stick to it, and control your network rather than have it controlling you.  You’re not a bad person just because you choose to ignore an invite.  And should you ever run into an individual whose invite you may have chosen to ignore…well, you can always blame your SPAM folder, right? ; ) 

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