Facebook: Like or Unfriend?

Let me start by sharing with you the things that I was blissfully unaware of until Facebook exploded onto our computer screens in 2004.
1. I have a double chin when I laugh.
2. That perfect Saturday night outfit that I spent a lot of money on looked truly terrible from the back.
3. A fringe does not suit me, NEVER do it again.
4. All of my Facebook friends have a perfect job, perfect relationship and perfect life in general.

Pre 2004 I was happily ignorant to all of the above and managed to live a fulfilling and carefree existence but that has all changed thanks to Facebook. I am not proclaiming that it is the devil or that everyone should revolt and delete their accounts but perhaps a short spell in social networking rehab is in order, especially for those who find themselves fixated by what someone is eating for dinner or what their friend thinks of the new episode of Gossip Girl.

Personally I decided it was time for a reality check when I was scrolling through status updates upon status updates that bored me senseless, in real life would you really 'like' it if your friend called you to tell you they were eating Pringles.......no and why is that? Because it is mind numbingly boring. So why bother typing it?

Started as a means of reconnecting with friends and socialising, Facebook is becoming strangely unsocial. The number of people who write on their friend's wall rather than walk 10 metres and tell them face to face is growing. I refuse to believe this is due to laziness, rather I think this is for another reason which is so other people will see it. Therefore reiterating the fact that you have friends, you are social and having oh so much fun.

See the problem with Facebook is that it is like an airbrushed version of your life. Posts and photos are carefully chosen to one up your friends developing a narcissistic tinge to everyday life. Would you really tell everyone about that Friday night you stayed in wearing 8 year old pyjamas, eating whatever was in the freezer, watching Bridget Jones Diary and praying to God that you don't end up like her..........I feel I have said too much. Well chances are no you wouldn't but when you get that amazing promotion at work or get asked out by that hunky guy from the coffee shop many of us are already updating our status before he has had a chance to walk away.

We are also becoming inundated with photographs, every part of our lives must be documented and shown to the world. Since when did it become normal to photograph your food before you eat it because I don't know about you but I definitely did not sign up for that. Every teenager and twenty something is obsessed with getting that perfect profile picture that says I am the life and soul of the party and you are lucky to know me. Nights out become a marathon of flashes and pouting instead of actually, you know, enjoying yourself.

The thing no one talks about though is how this actually makes others feel, surrounded by people constantly telling you how amazing their life is it can be overwhelming when yours isn't quite the fairy tale you envisaged. That is why everything you see on Facebook has to be taken with a pinch of salt, nobody has the perfect life and if they were uncontrollably happy all the time would they really feel the need to tell everybody on a social networking site? 

Are we all trying so hard to give the impression that we are having fun and leading amazing lives that we forget to actually live in the real world? I have to say since laying off the Facebook it has been like escaping the Matrix, colours are brighter, sounds are clearer and I feel at one with the Earth...okay that is a bit melodramatic but why not give it a try. Life is a lot more fun when you aren't comparing yourself to others and seriously do you actually care that 'Norman is stuck in traffic.' Nope, me either.

Apologies

First of all let me apologise for the extremely delayed post, since my last entry I have finished university completely so that is sort of my excuse........no I'm not buying it either. So with much excitement and anticipation (perhaps) I present: 

FACEBOOK: LIKE OR UNFRIEND?

Hope you enjoy, tweet me @abbiecoles