Facebook: A Low-Tech Complaint

Wasting time is no longer what it used to be.

When I was a kid, wasting time meant locking myself in my bedroom and drawing comic books based on the superheroes I had created earlier in the day on the margins of my science notebook. Of course, these drawings weren't much to brag about--today, they would make no one but Napoleon Dynamite jealous. And the superheroes weren't much more than lame X-Men knock-offs with cool names like Infrared and Xyster. Still, at the end of the day, the time I wasted on these comics bore some tangible fruits--even if the fruits, so to speak, were stacks and stacks of half-drawn comic books.

Much has changed since then. I no longer draw as much as I used to, and I have largely become disillusioned with the comics industry (aside from comic book movies, of course). So, I have found another way to waste my time. Unfortunately, this way bears less tangible fruit than a pack of Bubble Yum.

I am referring to that "social networking" website known as Facebook.

Don't get me wrong: I like Facebook. It has reconnected me with a lot of friends and classmates that I had already consigned to the pages of my past. Still, along with this promise of reconnection comes a lot of extra "stuff" that does little more than tempt me to waste time.

An example: The other day I spent twenty minutes of my life becoming a "fan" of various writers and pop culture icons. Why? WHO THE CRAP KNOWS!!!

Another example: Yesterday, I spent five minutes taking a quiz in order to find out which female character in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight I am most like. Again, why would I do this? Why should I care? I mean, I'm neither a fan of Twilight nor a female, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!

Five more minutes of my life wasted. Thanks for nothing, Facebook.

Facebook is more than a "social networking" website: it is cyber-quicksand. If you are not careful you may wander in there and be swallowed whole...or, at least, lose the better part of an afternoon.

Ironically, the time I've taken to write this post about wasting time on Facebook is largely wasted time as well. I mean, whining about Facebook isn't going to change the world or make me a better person. Blogger, I guess, is just another patch of cyber-quicksand.

Thanks for nothing, Blogger. I should have stuck with comic books.