The Summer of My Social Networking Discontent

A summer vacation on the beach is an ordered way to disorder my life. I escape social networks. Biznik and Linkedin are ignored. Facebook and Twitter are update free. My email accounts swell.

Was it my vacation, which caused my discontent? Not discontent, actually. It’s closer to a state of clarity. An absence of social networks restored my unplugged self. While watching the tide roll away I didn’t consider who would respond to my deep thoughts. I enjoyed spending quality time with my ideas without sharing them as tweets or updates.

During my unplugged vacation I started to examine the difference between a social network friend and a real-life friend. Visiting real-life friends during vacation was organic. We hugged. We laughed. We shared family photos and smiles sans emoticons.

Now I’m back from the beach and my photos have been uploaded. But no one is commenting. There aren’t even any “likes” or “unlikes.” Is this rejection? My Facebook page is a version of me and I’m not just being ignored. I’m being “unloved.”