Social networking sites...and my opinions about them

I recently, after a long hiatus, decided to restart my Facebook page. Maybe it was the heady rush and momentary desire to be part of something that the other graduate students were all doing, even though I am typically not a joiner. Maybe it was the fact that I was lacking a clear sense of community in my life, however tenuous. Maybe it was because I have tired of the MySpace world - not my friends on there, but the interface. Or maybe, most probably, I was avoiding doing actual work on something substantive. Who will know?

One observation that I have, regardless of the social networking site, is that people often seem to be most interested in collecting friends in such a way that seems to preclude any sort of "real" interaction between them beyond posting cute messages, cute surveys, and cute photo comments. Or, conversely, people seem to use these sites to torpedo their enemies with ugly comments and messages in an attempt to get them fired from their jobs, broken up with their loved ones, or in trouble with their friends. I am not accusing anyone that I know of this - this is just my general observation.

However, despite my tirade of sorts here, I will socially network. But, to be honest, I more desire the interaction enjoyed during bull sessions in an office, or laughs over pints at the pub. Call me weird, but that is how I am. Now, if you will excuse me, I must away to Facebook to hunt down and begin my collection of friends forthwith - I'm aiming for 100 by the end of April!