Can Facebook socialising really keep you more clued up than physical socialising?
A somewhat philosophical question: Are we nearing the 'death' of living separate online and offline lives brought about by the increasing amount of enhanced social networking features and apps. If so, is this is a good or bad thing?
Last weekend I was sat at a friend's wedding, waiting patiently in the church for a glimpse of the bride (who, to the utter disgrace of the vicar, was 12 minutes late!). I thought, perhaps naively, that being one of the invitees I would be the first to admire the dress - along with those in the church of course; yet when I clicked onto my Facebook newsfeed the following morning it was a surprise to see that photos of the wedding party had been uploaded to the site as the bride was waiting for her cue to walk down the aisle. The gushing comments and masses of 'likes' were of course charming to see and lovely for the happy couple, it was just a strange realisation to think that the world got to see the bride in her dress before her groom did.
This situation started me thinking about how much social networking has evolved in the last couple of years. The coupling of sites with smartphones and other mobile devices has enabled people to sign in wherever they are, allowing networking to take over their lives more than ever before. Think about it, 3 or 4 years ago it didn't matter how much of a Facebook nut you were, you weren't able to update your status or upload photos until you were sat in front of a computer, nowadays with just a few clicks or strokes on your gleaming touch screen and the whole world knows what you're up to in real time.
There is speculation about the dangers associated with this, but I just wanted this piece to highlight how much things have changed in such a fascinating way. The line between your offline life and your online one isn't so defined anymore - the Internet is merging both into a social individual's dream. Mark Zuckerberg has said this rather succinctly while talking about the new Facebook Timeline feature which will turn profile pages into a scrapbook like, photo heavy portal documenting events that have happened from way back before Facebook existed. Zuckerberg realises Timeline is a place "where people express their real selves and merge their online and offline lives even more than they are doing now".
So, have fun and remember that occasionally, very occasionally, staying at home at your computer may keep you more involved than being at the event itself. Strange.