Is it all Just Another Popularity Contest? ...

I've been thinking lately ... okay well I think all the time ... but I've been thinking lately about the world of social networking, the blogosphere, the way we use information these days ... and I know for the younger generations it's just an extension of the drama ... the bullshit ... of junior high, high school and maybe even college ... I have seen work drama unfold on Facebook ... I have seen family drama unfold on Facebook ... but I've noticed some things ...

I have a friend that has now had the same issues with different people four, five times in the last two years ... major issues ... life changing issues ... and everyone is always there to offer twenty ... thirty ... comments on her Facebook page about how sorry they are she
is going through this ... again ... I have friends that no matter what they say they have 20+ likes on their statuses ... and then I have friends that say incredibly inspirational things ... or are truly in need of support ... and they are looked over ...

I recently had an experience kind of like that myself ... I had a couple petty (okay not petty, but not ... I don't know ... important ... not the right word still, but the best one I have) posts both ahead and behind what I put up ... by people with more than fifty mutual friends with me ... and instantly they had a ton of "likes" ... I posted something I considered to be pretty serious that I don't talk about a lot ... something I have kind of put up walls about ... but there was a news article ... so I found the desire to post it ... and nothing ... not one acknowledgement ...

Now ... this bugs me for a few reasons ... and one of the reasons it bugs me is that I know it shouldn't... I shouldn't care ... and the fact that I shouldn't care ... makes me care even more ... I think part of it is that a large number of my friends didn't give a damn back when I was in high school and talked about the same subject ... at either high school ... at one high school I was pretty much labeled a drama queen ... and a hypochondriac ... well ... yeah ... let's just say that they didn't take me seriously then either .... so I think I have rooted issues with that particular subject ... but then I was sitting there thinking about how it's all just another popularity contest ...

Sure, I have family on there (which is why I post a shit ton of pictures) ... because I have family that gets on every few months and just looks at my pictures ... and I have friends that I am sooooo glad to have found a way to reconnect with and stay connected with ... but in the end it's kind of like junior high and high school all over again ... there are the people that no matter what they post ... what they say ... what stupid picture they took of themselves in the bathroom mirror will get a ton of responses ... then there are those that no matter what they post ... they are ignored ... and after witnessing a bullying incident at my daughter's school today I decided I need to think about how much I want to participate in this anymore ...

My feelings should absolutely not be hurt over feeling ignored on a social networking site ... but they are ... and maybe that's a sign that I should take a break ... like I said ... family wants pictures ... and important updates ... so maybe I stick to that ... it became a joke that I had to "check-in" everywhere so now because it's a running joke in a circle of friends I do it I started doing it in more and more places that I wouldn't normally even think about it ... but maybe that needs to stop too ...

Even in the blogosphere ... I write a lot because it's cathartic ... but sometimes it's hard to look and see that I have posts that have never been viewed ... that I took my time to write out words ... and nobody bothered to read them ...

I have been, admittedly, much happier lately than I have been for a long time ... and I'm not sure as to exactly why my words being on the interwebz, either through social networking or blogging now all of the sudden have this negative connotation ... but I just think that it's time to take a step back from social networking ... as I said about friends before ... I often wonder if I just deleted my Facebook page if anyone would miss me ... and as those thoughts grow stronger ... the more I think a break may be necessary ... I have a history of feeling (if not actually being) ostracized in large social groups ... not so much small ones ... but if I'm starting to view social networking that way ... I may be looking for drama where there is none to be found ... and that just wouldn't be healthy ...