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The Day That Facebook Ran My Life

It seems like so much of my decision-making process lately has become all about the input of my "friends."

By "friends," I mean the people I'm "friends" with on Facebook--some of whom I don't even know--but who seem to have strong opinions about my life.

The other day, I actually found myself not going to see a movie because I posted a status about going to see it and I had ten comments in under an hour about how awful it was.

I suppose I could be grateful that people wanted to save me the money and trouble of seeing a bad film, but I couldn't help thinking that a bunch of people on a social networking site shouldn't be determining my weekend plans.

That got me to wondering--

What would happen if I let Facebook run my life for a day?

I decided that for one day, I was going to put up every decision I had to make for public viewing, and see what responses I got.

The results were...interesting.

Status:

Should I eat breakfast today?

Comments:

"I never eat breakfast."
"Breakfast is overrated."
"< 3 a good breakfast."
"What do you mean you don't eat breakfast?  Are you proud of that?"
"I just don't eat it."
"I usually sleep in."


It looked like the majority sided with no breakfast, despite some strong detractors.

Status:

Do I want to go out after work?

Comments:

"Yeahhhhhh parrrrrrtyyyy!"
"Have fun!"
"Do it!"
"I wish I could go!"
"Yay!"

(Keep in mind, none of these people were going to be going out with me.  They just fully supported me going out for whatever reason.  None of them asked if I had to be up early the next day or if I had something that had to be done at home.  Apparently Facebook has become the easiest way to live vicariously through other people.  Sort of a virtual "Choose Your Own Adventure" book, except they were choosing my adventure.)

Once I was out, I asked my friend if I could update from his phone.

Status:

Should I get gas on the way home or wait until tomorrow morning when I'm running late for work?

Comments:


"Gas prices suck."
"They totally do!"
"Omg!  They're awful."
"They're not so bad where I'm from."
"Where are you from?"
"Um, do I know you?"

I didn't even get an answer there.  Facebook was starting to let me down.

(And I thought the answer to that one was pretty obvious.)

When I got home, I updated again.

Status:


Am I the most awesome person in the world?

Comments:

"You definitely are!!!  :o) "
"Uhhh....YEAH!"
"You rock!"
"< 3 you!"
"Did you eat breakfast?"

Sometimes I think that last status experiment is the real reason people go on Facebook.  They just want to confirm that people are interested in their lives, no matter how mundane those lives may seem to the people living them.  Think about all the things you've "liked" on Facebook in the past week.

"I'm buying a puppy."  (2 People Like This)
"I'm eating a sandwich."  (18 People Like This)
"I'm breathing."  (34 People Like This)

If Facebook was a person in our lives, their opinion would be considered so flighty and arbitrary that we would never actually put stock in it.

Yet as a website, we use it like politicians use polls to determine who we are and what we do.

And to be honest, I don't like that at all.

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