I feel like I've been grounded.
Some people have gotten their accounts back after 4-10 days, and others have fallen prey to the technical bullshit that comes with a site that has 500 million members and their accounts have been lost permanently and people have had to start over.
This is not a big deal for me when it comes to my close friends and family, but all of my comedian friends have gained in popularity and are now big shots with 5000 friends and couldn't accept my request even if they wanted to. I will have to settle for being their "fan".
Oy.
I have been trying to get better at Twitter in the meantime, but I gotta tell ya... it's no Facebook. Not only do I have a very limited network of friends on Twitter (due to my using it mainly to track comedians, writers, unheardof musicians, and artists) but I find it a lot less exciting. It is reads as just a page of words on my Blackberry, as oppposed to the excitement of pictures, videos and personality that was Facebook. Sure, Twitter LINKS to cool shit, but I don't have that kind of time.*
In the meantime, it has freed me to pay a little more attention to my blog that very few people read, and it has reminded me that I do not feel alone or abandoned without Facebook.
That is a relief to me.
Anyone who knows me at all, knows I was really really good at Facebook.
I spent a good deal of time ensuring that people were entertained, educated, and excited when they refreshed their home pages. It is not due to me thinking of myself as a minor celebrity (where would Facebook celebrity fall? Just above porn extra, but below reality star ?) It was because I found Facebook to be used by many people as a source of entertainment for themselves only. They would complain that Facebook was boring or that their friends were boring but they, themselves, would do little to offer others a little nugget to brighten their day. No videos of kitties playing with an ipad, no pictures of the cake they made, no music video they found entertaining, no witty statuses, no LIFE.
They are, not coincidentally, the same people who sit around complaining that they are bored. No, you're not; you are boring. There is a difference.
So I decided I would try and change that. It was a great way of connecting with people far and wide, it kept me searching for awesomeness, and it encouraged me to see the world through the eyes of another's enjoyment of life.
And THAT is what I miss.
I am okay with not knowing what others are up to. I have a large enough social network in reality that I haven't needed to supplement it (replace it?) with a cyber world.
But sometimes I wasn't so sure. (The monster looks back at you, yes?)
Until I lost Facebook, I WAS a bit afraid I would be one of those people who would cry and throw their phone against the wall if Facebook ever shut down or our government took our internets away. I hear people all the time try and convince me that they ENJOY smoking and could quit at any time. I never did believe them.
And here I was, chain-Facebooking. I could have ended up just like them.
Can I get a collective "PHEW"?
So, here is my Twitter link, although I don't recommend it:
http://twitter.com/#!/Arbitral
I will connect with you all soon, and in the meantime:
-Watch 'Away We Go'
-Get the new Radiohead album 'The King of Limbs'
-Listen to the podcast 'WTF with Marc Maron' (if you like comedy and greatness)
and miss me.
Because I miss you.
And I actually mean that in a non co-dependent way, even.
*I totally have that kind of time. I think I'm just not doing it for spite. I have a bit of a hate-on for Twitter and what I think it's doing to people.
10 comments:
You ARE good at facebook. I open my facebook page every morning to see if you are back yet. It makes me sad to see you are not. I can't wait much longer. You may have to make another account just to tide us over! -M
miss you too in a non-codependent way. Also, love your writing Sheena.
Chalaundrai
Thanks, Guys!
I am so happy to be (kind of) connected with you again.
@Chalaundrai: I have missed you! I can't wait for Farmer's Market season so I can randomly bump into you allovertheplace again!
xo
Hurry back! I'll sign any Sheena-related petition that crosses my desk.
Missing you too, Sheena!
It sure is boring without you - well, sort of, if I actually had time to get bored. But still, it is always nice to connect with someone and know there are still AWESOME people out there who do think of others and put themselves out there to make the world a better place for everyone else, rather than just sit around and complain about it all the time.
I find myself falling into that trap a lot of the time myself - complaining about being bored, not being focused, yet not contributing myself. It's because a lot of what we do are actually timesinks, designed to distract us, with no real sense of purpose or achievement. There's little to show or share after it - even if you've enjoyed the experience, all it has done is sucked yet more time between getting out of bed and getting back into it.
Yet, since being part of the Gamer Lifestyle, and founding DVOID Systems, I've learned to see such timesinks as they truly are, and between it all, I do get time out to actually do things which I share with others - like my own blogs, and the Legend of Zelda Roleplaying Game and my other gaming-related projects.
The only thing that Facebook is good for is that it is social, and it is easy to get involve and keep in touch, but you need to be willing to get involved and keep in touch. Even if it's just having an enjoyable discussion with others, it's great. But you don't need to do that on Facebook - you can do that anywhere, even in person.
You will generally find that those who claim to be bored a lot are boring, because they simply don't bother to take an interest, and get involved, and they don't get involved or care about other people. I've come to learn that when I get bored, it's largely because I'm not getting involved or caring about other people, and generally when they don't care about me either. It's the not caring that makes you bored.
That's why I like talking to AWESOME people - because they do care, and things are very rarely boring with them. If anything, they sometimes care too much, but I'd rather have people who cared to much than people who don't care at all any day.
Stay AWESOME, Sheena! You'll be back before you know it, and if not - well, I've got a few redundant websites I can turn into a rival for Facebook that would probably be quite AWESOME...
PLEASE COME BACK!
FREE SHEENA! FREE SHEENA!
T
Your new blog is still the most entertaining thing I read in a day. So glad I found you over here.
ts
@LePage... keep up the good work. I feel better knowing I have you working on the inside. =)
HERE HERE! I don't get Twitter either. It's limited and boring and there seems to me to be something much more fundamentally wrong with having to update the universe of your exact thoughts every ten minutes (or in my case, every few months, which is how often I've used it after opening an account which was a recommended supplement to starting a blog. Whatever). I suppose if you are a celebrity or a teenager it has its place. Personally, I am updated on a by-the-minute basis of the exact thoughts, emotions and opinions of my nearly four year-old and that is quite enough for me.
But Sheena, you really were the best Facebooker ever. Are you thinking about starting a new account in spite of the annoyance of having to start over? Because most of us really are boring, and do rely on creative wonders like you to brighten our daily Facebook digressions. Really. It's not the same without you.
On the upside, I will read your blog more now. I wonder why people don't read mine more often and then realize it's the same reason I don't often read theirs - if I have time to spend, it's either brainless poking around on Facebook or doing a blog entry, or if I really have my shit together writing an actual article for publication. It's a win-win scenario for me to choose to spend the former time slots reading your blog and others I find stimulating and fun. So that's my plan.
Miss you.
Oh, sweet Samantha!!
I DO read your blog!!
I check it almost daily for wee updates. I am just awful at commenting because I feel like if I comment too often, I will somehow write you fewer letters and postcards and you know how bad I am at that already. =)
Still no Facebook reply. I have been getting better at Twitter, I suppose, but I don't have any personal friends who are active on there very often (except Greg but I live with him so what am I really going to to find out?) so it is boring for the most part. I did Live Tweet the Oscars which was MUCH more fun for me to do than it was to read, I'm sure. I WAS much better at Facebook.
And I may get another account and start over, but I am holding out hope Facebook will give me back my old one. PLUS, I have huge news and may start a business Facebook page soon and that may supercede a personal one, we'll see...
=D
I will tell you all about it soon.
We should set up a phone call time. Let me know when you have 17 seconds child-free with Tim asleep on the couch! We'll make a date of it.
I love you.
And miss you, too.
xo
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