Social Networking- Why do we share?

Hi, I'm Mrs. K and you can find me here, here, and here. We can create "relationships" online and replace face to face interaction entirely. We can make connections and feel as if we truly know someone by what they choose to share on their social networking sites. Think about it- You must be good friends with so and so because you know what their son did this morning while she was getting ready to walk out the door. You know that after work, she stopped at the gas station to fill up and bought a diet dew. You know her hose ripped and it felt like the end of the world.

The point is- most of us share, share, share! I'm especially guilty. I write this blog, sharing details of our lives that most of you probably don't care about. I post photos on Facebook and enjoy reading through all the comments my friends post on it. I publish status updates as if you care my dog chewed up another shoe. It's interesting to me because I've never really thought about why my need to share such things is so strong. What makes me sign into Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger several times a day?

I don't know.

I think a large part of that urge is because I do stay at home. Perhaps it's a boredom thing, but I think it would be more accurate to blame it on the desperate need for connection with someone other than a one year old. Another reason may be that I live far away from most of my friends and family. I share to keep them in the loop. It's easier to throw up a photo or blog post that everyone can see rather than calling 85 million of my closest friends and family. I'm not much of a phone person.

When I think back to my college days, I can remember when Facebook was established. In fact, I remember the brief time that it was called The Facebook. My roomie was a part of it, but I didn't want to cave. I really didn't think much would come of it. It was a place online where people looked up others from their classes and to be honest- I thought, "I have enough friends." Besides, what was so different from that and Myspace? I soon thought differently, though. My classmates began meeting up outside of class and arranging it via Facebook. Within weeks, my peers were asking, "Are you on Facebook?" When I created my account, it was fun to watch my list of "friends" grow. It was an exciting community online where I could further build my real-life relationships. The best part was that you had to have a university email address to join. To risk sounding absolutely lame, it really was so cool.

It's kind of amazing what it has become. I have just under 1,000 friends on my personal page and more than that on my fan page. I regularly delete people who I don't actually know or people who never interact with me simply because I can't really believe that I can be "connected" with that many people. I just don't think I have 1,000 friends. It certainly doesn't feel like it most days.

A few days ago, Mark Zuckerberg said, "...in ten years from now, people will be sharing about one thousand times as many things as they do today." It's hard to imagine. I mean, on a daily basis I see you all sharing Instagram photos of your lunch, articles you find interesting on Twitter, and daily deals on Facebook. Our lives are on blast for the world to see- and it's all written in ink. It's not a pencil you're using when you post your latest thought. It's forever recorded in a huge complicated code on the Internet. How eye-opening is that?

I just keep thinking that I probably didn't have to share with you that time I knitted a scarf or that time I scrapbooked one afternoon. I mean, really? I'm a habitual over-sharer online. I don't know how it could get much worse from me...and I don't want to imagine it.

Instead, I want to get out and have real interactions. I want to savor the time I get with friends. I want to watch my kids play with their cousins instead of sending photos and videos back and forth. I want more life in between my social sharing. After the weekend I just had catching up with my college pal, I realize that. It was so refreshing to be able to share chocolate with a friend and talk about our past, present, and futures. It was fun to watch movies and eat pizza like old times!

I'll share more about our weekend later, of course. 'Cuz that's just what I do.

(Photo credit here)