The Evils of Social Networking

I finally did it. To my behest, I am now a (reluctant) blogger. Why did I finally muster the courage to blog? For one thing, I find writing to be therapeutic, not that I seek any therapy... secondly, when a gorgeous girl with the prettiest set of eyes bats her long lashes and kindly asks you to do anything, you do it! So yes, I admit, much like an antsy teenager, I caved in to peer pressure.

My first blog entry selection: social networks. I admit I use them, but truthfully, I despise "social networking." Sure, they have some benefits, like staying in touch with people you don't like, but it also has its setbacks. I present my top 10 reasons why social networking stinks:

1) They're impersonal
2) One can easily edit their real thoughts, something you can't do in an actual conversation
3) Having to constantly post some witty comment in order to make it look like you have a sense of humor
4) There are tons of creeps out there with bad intentions
5) It is easy for anyone to hide their true personality
6) Stalkers
7) They become a distraction, thus causing a lack of production at the workplace
8) Having to constantly read comments like "LOL" or "ROFL" or "LMAO" or "OMG"
9) The sheer amount of grammatical errors is dumbfounding (personal pet peeve of mine)
10) Up to the minute status updates. There is always that one particular person who has to let the world know exactly what they are doing at the top of every hour. I for one don't care if you are checking your email at 3AM in the fricken' morning!

Which leads me to question, why did I sign up to those sites? As stated earlier, it was easy to stay in touch with my out of town friends, especially during a time when I moved away from all of my closest and dearest friends.

My reluctance to join most of these networks was mainly due to concerns of privacy. Yes, I am aware of privacy settings, but I'm a low key person who flies under the radar and keep a lot of things to himself. If I need to air something out to a friend, I approach them personally, not online through myspace or facebook. Or maybe I can blog about it? ;)