Get with the times, or GET AWAY from the times?

Social networking has hit an all time high with the rising popularity of Facebook. [sounds like a CNN lead-in, right?] Well I tripped over my pajama bottoms and fell deep into the FB abyss months ago ((ok, ok-- years ago)) and have never really come out, except maybe a time or two to rival the curiosity I had been fighting.

It's true, FB became my "new blog" over the past couple of years. I started with a few friends, a few acquaintances. The numbers rose, I felt quite popular, and it wasn't long before I accepted "friends" that I had never met before. Now as a blogger, I was used to this. It didn't bother me that I had a wall full of people that knew nothing about me other than what I slapped in that 240 character space I called my own.

However the more people I accepted as "friends," the more conservative I found myself. And I did not like it! The more I relied on FB, the less I cared about my blog. I began to miss my freedom of expression. I missed venting without offending my family or the people I knew, or family who knew the people I knew but didn't know me or see me on a regular basis. (Not that my blog wasn't offensive in some ways...certainly it was!) But I was thinking last night, "I can be offensive if I wanna be because, well, it's my own personal corner of the world wide web and I'm not forcing anyone to read what I have to say. Besides, it's not like blogger has a graffiti wall or something!"

And that's when it hit me.

My Facebook page has become a grafitti wall!

It all makes perfect sense now. Because I am part of this FB network, I am subjecting all of my "friends" to the links I have posted and the words I have written. I can virtual slap someone across the face, I can virtual hug someone who is sad, and I can get into a virtual argument with the people I consider to be my "friends". The downfall? It's all public. [And my friends are your friends and your friends have friends that are friends with my friends and then they want to be friends with me so they can express their unwarranted opinions which offend my friends and suddenly we're all defriending each other and starting over.]

I think it's time for me to nurture my creativity once again (read: vent and bitch and gripe and moan without fear of repercussion). I have joined NaBloPoMo for this year in an attempt to keep my spirits motivated and my head clear. Wish me luck!