Who's Real? Who's Fake?

So, check it out. The world today, or at least the current generation, relies HEAVILY on trends. If somebody else ain't doin' some shit, most people ain't gone do it. I don't even know if most people even realize this fact; possibly becuz they themselves are too busy following trends to notice. But anyway, one of the biggest trends of today, and about-- I'd say-- the last four to five years, has been social networking websites.

First, it was Tagged, remember that shit? That was poppington in like, '05, don't stunt. At least, it was at Steinmetz. Then, came the dreaded MySpace, which EVERYBODY had or still has one of. And nowadays, I'd say the most popular site is Facebook. There were a few others that were kinda popular for a minute, like BlackPlanet and Hoverspot, but never gained the popularity of MySpace and Facebook. And of course, you can never forget about Twitter, which I feel is the dumbest shit ever created, BUT, with the idea of following trends being so trendy, a lotta people are starting to grab one. Once people find out about Google Wave, I'm sure that'll be the new craze also; just remember where you heard about Google Wave first, niglettes.

Getting straight to the point, I'm a frequent Facebook user, like a lotta people I know, and I have had Facebook for a while now. I joined Facebook in December of 2006, after getting invited MONTHS earlier, but declining to join since I didn't know what it was at the time. So, it's safe to say I KINDA SORTA followed a trend by joining, since I didn't actually join till I heard a little buzz about it, but keep in mind, in December of '06, MySpace was all the rave, so I was still being an individual in my own way. Point being, I've seen this site go through a lotta phases; from being an invite-only college site, to an invite-only high school and college site (when I joined) to being a site for ANYONE.

Nowadays, I use it to keep in touch with people slightly outside my immediate friend circle, as well as old friends (like grammar school and high school buddies), but I really think that most people are only on Facebook becuz the current social networking site trend is "MySpace is lame, Facebook is where it's at", or something along those lines. Basically, I'm starting to see a lotta the same people and trends that prompted me to stray away from MySpace popping up on Facebook, and it's really making me want to write a social networking website poem (a la Shannon Matesky's "My Space", albeit, an updated version) at the very least, and this blog post is pretty much nothing more than a brainstorm for that.

Simply put, social networking sites are a trip. If I had a dollar for every "ThIngZ dHat PisZ mE oFf oN FacEbOok" note I came across, I'd uh... have a few dollars in my pocket. If I slapped a bitch for every status similar to "I HATE FUCKIN FAKE ASS PEOPLE" that I've read, I'd have slapped more bitches than a lil' bit at this point. It's gotten to a point that a lotta people use these sites as an excuse to be someone that face-to-face interaction prohibits. I mean, I once read a status that said "man, people just upload anything to Facebook nowadays" or somethin' along those lines, and I could not believe that person was serious. It's crazy how some people only upload pics or type statuses for the approval of others, and it's crazier that it's gotten to the point that people are shocked, or think it's immoral when people upload things becuz THEY want to. I mean, that shows that that person portrays a persona online in which they don't have to be his or herself, yet these are, in most cases, the same people screaming that they hate fake people. Crazy when you actually think about it, right?

Maybe it's just the type of friends that have added me in the past that are like this. Maybe I should take into account the age of these people and realize that most of them are fresh off of MySpace, where posing in front of a camera and coming up with a screen name meant that online, you were that somebody you wish you could be in real life. What I do know, is that I have 874 friends on Facebook, which I have maybe added 1/4 of myself, meaning that similar to MySpace, people add people on Facebook just for the hell of it, or for the sake of a large number of friends. But the fact of the matter is, I joined Facebook becuz back then, people would really be themselves, since they used their real name, and didn't dress up their profile with a bunch of quotes that they don't even really live by. Nowadays, people settle for make-believe middle names, since Facebook in MOST, not all, cases doesn't allow fake first and last names cuz it's pretty much the closest they can get to not being themselves online. My only question is, when will we be comfortable enough with ourselves to BE ourselves? That is all. Poem coming soon (hopefully).

~Trufe