The New, Impersonal Personals -- Blogs
Pacific News Service, Youth Commentary, Eming Piansay, Posted: Aug 26, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO--OK. I admit it. I've become addicted to the growing monster of society called "the blog."
I check mine at least twice a day. Why? To see the number of times it's been accessed, to see what other people post, and for no reason whatsoever. It's sick, weird and a little odd -- but that's what blogging is all about: being a little weird. Putting your name, picture, weird hobbies and interests online, and attaching a bunch of comments your friends leave you, just to show that you're remotely interesting. All this effort just so a bunch of random strangers can look at you and see whether you like CSI or Survivor.
My addiction has progressed, I've given up on actually meeting people. Maybe, I'm lazy but it seems so tiring to make the effort. Why spend all that time getting to know someone in person -- "Do you like movies? Do you snore?" -- when all I have to do is log in and click, and presto, I know enough without having to say a word.
It is the perfect nonexistent relationship, with your computer and about a couple million other people. Making your own first impression is painless this way, too. You upload different pictures and say, "Does this look good? Or does it make my legs too wide?"
Nothing wrong with that, right? Or are blogs just an excuse to be a loner who laughs only in "LOL" form?
The only thing about the blog that remotely resembles real life is when weird people start talking to you. Someone you don't even know drops you a line -- "Hey babe -- I saw your site, you look cute. Maybe we could meet up sometime."
Um, how 'bout no? This is the equivalent of those dudes that honk at you from cars, give a weird dirty smile, and drive off. Nice try, but neither your font nor your car is impressive -- NEXT!
Or does creating this kind of site invite the weird people of the corn to start talking to you? So then maybe I brought this upon myself.
This new social scene is getting out of control. Instead of meeting people normally we cruise the online profiles -- Friendster, MySpace, Xanga and Facebook-- for random people. These sites are supposed to keep friends connected, but I see people with about 100 plus "friends." Do they actually know these people? I can't count 100 people I know in the real world, much less people whose profiles I can access.
One thing I've noticed about the blogs and personal profiles people post online is how open people are, which I'm semi-guilty of myself. I find myself stumbling on to total stranger's site, and the next thing I know, I'm exploring his most intimate thoughts. It feels kind of stalkerish, like the public domain has gotten just a little too public -- even for the web. Sure, hooray for public expression, but there are some things which no one should know. Seriously.
Lately, I've noticed that the friendships I've created in the real world have slowly drifted into blog form. Why wait for a call on your cell phone when you can talk to someone without having that awkward silence buzzing back at you on the other end? Conversations are short, to the point, and can be edited with the click of a mouse.
Last week, I got this message from a guy I knew back in elementary school. The post said something like, "Hi! Remember me? How long has it been?" We'd lived in the same are for years but it took him accessing my blog to finally reach out to say hi. What's next, catching up on old times at an online bar with virtual drinks?
I recommend a support group for this sort of thing. No one should be a flaming addict alone with their computer at 1 in the morning. Nothing good comes out of that, except maybe delusional flashes. But that's a whole different problem.
Eming Piansay, 19, is a student at San Francisco City College and a writer for YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia, a journal of young life in the Bay Area.
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