I'm A Stalker.

So here is my confession #1:

I wish there was a cooler way to put this, but, I’m a stalker – a facebook stalker. I spend about 1/3rd of my week on facebook and I pretty much ditch a lot of other productive activities for facebooking. Not that I intend to, but it just happens. Why? Because it’s easy and convenient. Facebook is like the common man’s blog – you can post pictures, share videos, comment, stay in touch with friends or have fun “poking” people like I always do. Through facebook, I know what my friends are doing. I even know what my friends’ friends are doing! So, with people updating their status with their life’s happenings every second, you pretty much just get around to staring at people’s profiles all day or trying to figure out what a particular someone is doing. And sometimes, you’d think it’s better than a blog because you have greater publicity and a larger audience – thanks to those facebook updates.

And it doesn’t end there. If I meet someone for the first time today, they’re on my facebook tomorrow. My “friends” (includes pretty much everyone I meet in life) circle keeps increasing. And the next thing I know, I’m stalking them – seeing what they’re up to. Furthermore, by accepting your friend request, these guys pretty much extend to you the same invitation: “come play tag with me”. One advantage (or is that a disadvantage?) to being at home for me is that I’m always about 10 feet within the reach of my laptop. And facebook very kindly (sometimes annoyingly) notifies me every minute of everything my friends do. I can’t help getting excited every time I see a notification. Hey, I’m curious to see what was said in my honor.

It’s one thing to read someone’s blog, appreciate it and leave a comment. But it’s another to stay logged in all day and browse through friends’ profiles, look at their pictures, post on their walls or simply read whatever seems interesting in wall-to-walls. The best part about all this – nobody knows I’m stalking. Or scrolling back in time to see their previous activities. Or looking at friends’ friends profiles through “tagged” pictures. Freaky, how I poke into other people’s business. Does that make me a stalker? I Guess. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon because I haven’t figured out anything better to do.

Does this behavior seem odd to a lot of people? Or is everyone pretty much doing what I am? Are we just flattered by attention (oh yeah, I mean egoistic), assuming everyone is the same as well? And does it really matter? YES. Facebook can be both fascinating and annoying. But either way, it is very addictive. And do we sense a great loss of interpersonal communication here? Because, all people end up doing is talk through facebook, even if they stay 2 blocks away. People (includes me) post personal information, share intimate stuff and wait, idled, for responses from pretty much everyone. Your stalkers know what you're up to, your future employees might gather stuff from your activities, or worse, your desi relatives might figure out stuff happening in your life! This, unfortunately, is the way lives have become since facebook became a part of them. All this said, I’m definitely getting back to facebook right after this. And I’m sure you will too. Nothing has changed, has it? And I bet nothing will.

Ok, but I do have a life! I’m not completely engrossed in everyone else’s life – I’m just enthusiastic about staying in touch and figuring out what most my friends are really up to since I’m so far away from them and it’s hard to get around to all the information! I'm really glad those facebook stalker applications never got around to working! Besides, it also allows for some lazy moments after a tiring day, or so I’d like to think. I’m also beginning to wonder if there is a line that separates social networking and addiction. Because if there is, I’m pretty sure it’s a really thin line.

And yeah! Not to forget - Happy social networking, you guys!