Thursday, November 5, 2009

Blog Fears and Facebook

I've been a lousy blogger for months now. I've been hesitant to write anything at all. Even a little afraid.

I think my fear began months ago when my friend, K., said a blog is too exposing. I was way too exposed on my blog. People can know things about me. Isn't that a little scary?

Verdad.

Maybe I don't want them to know so much.

I suddenly felt as if there were naked pics of me . I suddenly felt as if there were something I should hide.

K. said Facebook was better. Much less personal. And so much more popular.

Facebook was a better place to be.

So I joined Facebook. And I lost interest in both the blog and Facebook.

The fact is, I don't "get" Facebook.

Almost overnight I had so many friends I'd never met.

(The word, friend, must have been redefined while I was blogging.)

When I check in on Facebook, I see all kinds of posts from so many new friends. I've never had so many friends in my life!

And some are friends I actually know! It's so exciting when I see a post from someone whose name I recognize.

What confuses me, though, are all the games. Or quizes. Or what are they? And who has time?

Someone posts that they have taken a quiz that reveals they have the soul of Bob Dylan and the Mona Lisa, all wrapped into one. Someone else posts he is King Arthur. Someone else posts they had grits for breakfast. Someone else says it's windy. Did anyone else notice the wind?

On special days an electronic friend sends me an electronic plant. I am invited to send my electronic friend an electronic plant back.

How romantic!

I am thinking this must be how you have unexposed friendships.

And roses too.

7 comments:

Rick Bursky said...

I've always enjoyed readying your blog, especially when you have written about some of the stuff you've been reading. I discovered some really great poets on your blog. Don't stop.

Christopher Barzak said...

I love your blogs because they take dailiness and turn it into prose poetry, sort of like this post has done with facebook and all those quizzes and silliness! :)

Lyle Daggett said...

"All watched over by machines of loving grace..."

(Line from a Richard Brautigan poem of years back, can't recall the title offhand. I think it's in his book The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster.)

Delia Psyche said...

I don't understand Facebook either. In fact, I find it slightly sinister, in keeping with the ersatzness of so much of contemporary American life. "Unexposed friendships": an oxymoron. A friend is someone you grapple to your soul with hoops of steel; how can you avoid exposing yourself to him?

Once I started to create a Facebook profile (if that's what you call it) in order to correspond with Bill Knott. After filling in a few boxes I thought, "This is dumb," and stopped.

Unknown said...

why would you want to "correspond with Bill Knott"?

anyway . . .

nothing to say

i got facebooked out but even if you quit it they don't let you quit

Delia Psyche said...

Mr. Knott--or Bill, if you prefer--I like your work. I thought it'd be interesting to leave you a message on Facebook and see how you responded, but while filling out my profile I grew uncomfortable with the questions and remembered criticisms of Facebook I'd read. So I stopped. Since then I've contented myself with checking out your three blogs regularly. I hope you don't close them down!

Glenn Ingersoll said...

All the things that put you off Facebook put me off Facebook. But I've found it's a fairly easy way to keep up with people I know & don't see much - if I ignore all the pokes and houseplants. If I've offended anyone by ignoring their gifts of eggs or whatever - no one's said anything about it.