The Evils of Social Networking

Back in 2009, I started a MySpace page to promote my first (and still only) full-length novel, The Blackening. The reasoning behind it was obvious. As an aspiring horror/sci-fi author (and not-so-proud owner of an Ohio Directions card) I wanted to expose my work to the masses and hopefully get lucky; after all, these types of feel-good success stories we always hear about on the news are the kinds of rags-to-riches accounts that keeps us fools dreamin’, right?

After the MySpace page went nowhere in a hurry, I turned to Facebook, which I left in disgust about a month ago. Why? The first reason was that 94% of my Facebook friends really didn’t give a good goddamn about reading my material and helping spread the word; ditto to the dozens of other Facebook pages – mostly small-press publishers and horror-themed groups – that I contacted in a futile effort for exposure and opinions. But who has time to read anything when there are millions of videos to share, thousands of games to play, and hundreds of metaphysical beings to argue about?

Another of my motives for leaving? The lazy factor. Thinking, mentally constructing, and typing a uniquely individual comment based on critical thinking is a rarity on Facebook. If you agree with someone, just click the convenient “Like” button and move on to the next thing. Digital hedonism has a name…and that name is Facebook.

Which brings me to this: Facebook causes people to fall in love with their own lives and how they live them. I sure wasn’t above falling into this trap. I started my Facebook profile to promote my work, not myself, but promoting myself was precisely what I ended up doing; humorous status updates so I could relish in the jovial reciprocation of my friends became the norm. People nowadays are more interested in sensationalized personalities than a human being’s passion, accomplishments, or body of work. Just look at Charlie Sheen. Seriously, how many pictures of yourself do you have to post, how many useless status updates do we have to read, how many PetVille accomplishments do you have to flaunt, or how many music videos do you have to share? Piss off with it already.

All I tried to do on Facebook was use my talents to ascend out of the squalor I’ve lived in my entire life; all I wanted from my friends was a little boost, some input I could use to improve and write even better stories. Maybe my dreams aren’t meant to be. Perhaps those with bad luck act as the counterbalance to those who have better fortunes. But this struggle is all that guys like me have.

The final reason I won’t be on Facebook? I just don’t belong in the maddening crowd. I never have and I never will. Whenever I’m out in public, I go to an area that best allows me to see where everybody else is. Lurking outside of the tempestuous vortex of humanity – perhaps with a few other kindred souls – is right where I belong.