Facebook Changes and Other Old News

I’m annoyed by all the fussing over the Facebook changes of the last couple of weeks. Here’s why. Everything in media is cyclical.

(Really, everything is. Very little is really happening for the first time.)

We get a new technology for communication, people don’t see the purpose of it, people worry how it will affect children and our attention spans, people say they don’t have time for it, kids get into it, grown-ups get into it, people get addicted to it, it becomes part of life. Wash rinse repeat.

We hate how important this new technology has become to us, so when it changes and we have to get re-accustomed to it, we notice how dependent we are, and that bothers us. We hate that it bothers us which makes us even more bothered. Wash rinse repeat.

Let’s own up. You probably use Facebook more than you’d like to admit. You’re a little confused by the new functions, and having to spend time learning how to work with something you already feel guilty about spending time on is not an excellent prospect for you.

But here’s the thing: If you don’t want to? Don’t.

There are things that it makes sense to complain about. Things that are both voluntary and free are not among them.