Saturday, November 6, 2010

FACEBOOK aka Friendship: A Quick One Part Two

This is not a pipe.


This one is from a lesson I learned via Scott McCloud in his book Understanding Comics. That is where I first learned of the above painting. The idea of the original piece, should you be standing in front of it, is that you are not looking at a pipe. You are looking at a painting of a pipe. In McCloud's piece, he points out that you are looking at several printed copies of a drawing of a painting of a pipe. So, I must point out that you are now looking at the HTML code of a JPEG of a picture of a painting of a pipe....or something like that. Does your head hurt? Mine too.

So what does this have to do with Facebook? Recently, I CLICKED on an IMAGE of an ACQUAINTANCE to see what she looked like as Lady Gaga. While on the FACEBOOK PAGE, I saw an IMAGE of a pretty girl and CLICKED. I then sent a MESSAGE asking the ACQUAINTANCE about the girl in the IMAGE. As a result, I am told that it is REALLY WEIRD that I am CREEPING around her FRIENDS. Are you with me here? Facebook is only a few years old, social media a bit older and the entire Internet itself, not even as old as me. Yet it has seemingly assimilated reality, or vice versa, in the minds of young people. Think about it. Eight minutes of me staring at my screen like a vegetable while scrolling through random combinations of words and images not only translates into meaningful interaction for others but is grounds for judgment!

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