Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Jane Donuts Often Finds Herself Thinking in Status Updates

Like the ones on Facebook:
Jane Donuts is so glad she has four weeks of vacation per year.
Jane Donuts had a lovely run around the reservoir this morning.
Jane Donuts just had a delicious cup of coffee.

Jane Donuts also wishes people could say what they're really thinking in their status updates. Like:
Jane Donuts doesn't want to go to work but knows she would get bored at home.
Jane Donuts is filled with self loathing.
Jane Donuts wishes she'd insisted on piano lessons as a child so she could now be a rock star now and not have to pretend to care about her corporate job.
Jane Donuts is wearing her fat pants today; is fucking pissed.

Whatever social media is doing to us is strange if these are the side effects.

3 comments:

Youngling #2 said...

I think this is a good point, but all it's really doing is exposing what already existed, I think. Like, you know, plenty of people are self-loathing from time to time, but when asked how things are going, they default to either "Great" or "Same old, same old." And that's not true. Because I get depressed some days, which isn't same old, same old. And the other days, I think maybe I'm happy. Also not same old, same old. Sometimes, I'm frustrated about stuff, and that's kind of same old, same old. But in the end, I just remind myself, "Hey, another day another dollar."

p.s. I hate exclamation points, particularly on status updates. I'd love to see those people when they're feeling sad, which you know happens at least every couple of weeks. Where's your exclamation point, now?

Jane Donuts said...

It's a good point, and another example of how online media is accelerating and magnifying everything. People are still phonies, which is unfortunate. Maybe what is happening is that media is actually changing human behavior and forcing it to be more honest and less bound to the strictures that keep us "civilized." (And I'm talking about things we do for the greater good, like tell white lies to each other to avoid hurting feelings, and other things too.) This is excellent food for thought, Y2.

Lex A. Con said...

I haven't actually read this post yet, but I just had to comment because JUST THIS MORNING I realized I now think in status updates. I was going to change my status update to that, but then realized that I've updated my status a lot lately and didn't want to look like the huge loser I obviously am. So instead, I just thought about it for a while and wondered if this happened to anyone else. It kind of freaks me out how facebook has pervaded my subconscious.