I'm In Ur Tubes Building My Networks

So, I'm a little behind on the whole "social networking" scene. I'm all about LinkedIn, as it's more of a professional type networking thing. Somehow the rest of it has eluded me. Part of it is that I'm a computer geek, with full blown programming powers, including html and css (not that you'd know it from here - must update layout soon). Not many outsiders know this, but computer geeks lose a lot of geek cred if they get caught with a My Space page. Not cool.

There's a lot more to it than that though. Ever since breaking up with my extended family, I've been hesitant to put anything about me or my clan online. The idea that people with whom I no longer wish to associate can keep tabs on me and my family creeps me out, especially when it comes to my kids. That's why you don't see my using anyone's actual name here, or pictures for that matter. I don't mind the idea of strangers looking at my kids - if I did I wouldn't be able to take them out of the house. It's the people I know about that bother me.

Even worse than the idea of people keeping tabs on me though is the fear of the fictional relationship, where the unnamed parties are using the information online to maintain a sense of connection where none exists. Now I realize that this probably sounds paranoid, and I suppose to some extent it is, but it's paranoia rooted in truth. If I had any doubts of this, they were eliminated in the fiction that was my father's obituary, where he was listed as having two grandchildren but his daughter-in-law was mysteriously absent. At our last meeting, he actually said that it was too hard for him to even look at my kids pictures because he knew he wasn't going to let himself meet them. He died without even setting eyes on my son, and he hasn't seen my daughter since she was a couple of months old. I'm sorry, but I don't think someone counts as a relation if you haven't actually met them (unless of course they leave you money - you know, just in case a rich uncle I don't know about is reading this).

Anyway, I've avoided the whole online social scene, including blogging, for this reason. I didn't feel like it was a big deal really. Like I said before, the idea of me ranting online and having anyone read it is a little weird (no offense meant to the person actually reading this now), and I'm not concerned with how many "friends" I can get on My Space, so the whole thing seemed like a moot point.

Of course, everything changes, and this is no exception. Recently, someone sent me a Facebook invite. At first I shied away from it, equating Facebook with My Space. But then my lovely wife pointed out a very familiar face (although it was slightly more clean cut than I remembered it). See, one of the things that starting dividing me from the hive was this weird trend of my friends somehow becoming alienated from them in some intense way, making it awkward for me to hang out with them. In this case, said friend took off to points unknown, and I've only seen him once since then. I've often considered trying to hunt him down, but I would become distracted by some emergency (and by emergency I mean "shiny object") and have to postpone it.

So now I have a both a blog and a Facebook account. My online anonymity is dwindling rapidly. I suppose it was inevitable to some extent. I'm not fond of allowing people I don't actually talk to influence my decisions (with the possible exception of John Stewart), so why should I limit myself so greatly in a realm where I'm so comfortable?

Dammit, I want to be part of the internets too! Why should lolcats have all the fun?