Earlier this week I read a post by Amber Naslund over at her Brass Tack Thinking blog. She did a nice job of actually thinking about something that I feel is an affliction rather than a development in the social space: frictionless sharing. This idea was brought to us by the folks at Facebook. Simply put, it’s a mechanism to share information (like what you are reading, watching etc) with others in your social network without the repeated bother of app requests. Once you opt-in to one of these kind of sharing machines, you immediately pass along what you are doing to your friends.
Great idea, right? Social is all about sharing, right? Well, the second idea is right. As for this being a great idea? I couldn’t disagree more. Rather than some long drawn out paragraphs, here are my reasons why I am opposed to this kind of interaction in the social space.
It’s intrusive – I have under 200 “friends” in my Facebook profile. A puny measure by many standards in today’s world. Well, if even 25 of them buy into this idea that 200 becomes way too noisy way too quickly. I like my friends but I am not married to them. Having a little space is a good thing.
It’s assumptive – This kind of sharing implies that I truly care about EVERYTHING my friends do and vice versa. That’s just not how life works.
It’s not my vision – This vision is the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg and the people at Facebook. Personally, I am not a fan of Mr. Zuckerberg’s. Doesn’t mean that what he has accomplished means nothing. I actually wish him no ill will at all. I just don’t think the way he does, although I am being forced to in the new world of frictionless sharing.
It’s short-sighted – My prediction is that even as people grow up with this kind of “openness” and it is seen as more natural for them they will find that as their lives get busier with real things like families that this kind of social interaction isn’t desirable. There is not enough time to keep up with everything that everyone is doing if you truly want to give the right attention to those right in front of you that need you most.
It’s dehumanizing – Kind of ironic how I might consider something that is said to be bringing human beings closer I would say is dehumanizing. Why do I say that? Because I cannot possibly have this degree of sharing as my mere mortal self. Just because technology exists to enable this spamming of all of my acquaintances doesn’t mean it’s ultimately the best thing for us all. Think fossil fuels. Good idea at the onset but now it’s not looking so bright is it?
One to many communications are no longer special – It used to be that you had to really work to have an audience. Now you force everyone to be an audience. That’s wrong.
As I always do with a list, I will end by saying that there is more. That’s enough sharing for right now. I hope you have a good day that is uncluttered and not full of the yammerings of your so-called friends. You may find peace and quiet to be a better form of frictionless living.
