I realized that the most interesting and emotionally compelling theme that I want to probe in this project (zine-making) is human communication in a time when technology (home computers, the internet, I-pods) makes it very easy to be more anonymous, isolated, and in a certain sense "unencumbered" by traditional relationships. My stance is that all attempts at "reaching out," so to speak, and communicating with other beings in a respectful and nourishing way are valuable. However, I realize that Facebook and other websites are not perhaps the best way of connecting and forming relationships; I will include a couple of critiques of these websites and the culture that has developed as they have gained popularity. For example, what are the limits imposed by computers in terms of communication?
Craigslist.com, Facebook, and Twitter gave me the inspiration to explore this. I have noticed that people will use their Facebook status as a means of expressing remarkably personal (sometimes painful) feelings. The "news feed" on Facebook is an easy way of finding out what is going on in other people's lives. People vary in the degree to which they post sentiments and updates from their personal life - some statuses are generic as "Go Blue!" on gamedays while others make me want to stop what I'm doing and call the person to cheer him or her up, they sound so desperate and in need of basic human comfort.
The idea is to write haikus based on Facebook statuses, and to make a pictoral Craigslist personals montage. (Craigslist.com is another site that is regularly used by (lonely, desperate people.... and people who aren't necessarily lonely and desperate) to connect with others). Still not sure whether I should create these from my own head or borrow them directly from the site (without any attached names, of course).
I should finally note that this idea of connection is so dear to me because if there were one thing I could change about myself, I would totally eliminate my shyness and anxiety about engaging with other people. There's a fairly well documented dynamic (at least in the world of The Smiths, The Cure, and popular music culture) of a gut need to express oneself to others and also to help others to express themselves genuinely while simulataneously fearing that one is never quite enough, never quite ready, never quite able to do this.
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Facebook statuses are strange things. For whatever reason, a friend of my younger sister (age sixteen) is my friend on Facebook, and one day her status read something to the extent of "I'm so miserable and I can't do life anymore." If this girl had posted it, there was a chance she meant it, and despite not knowing her personally, I felt as if it was my obligation to respond in some way. I ended up calling my mother who called her mother, I suppose. Perhaps I overreacted, but at the moment it seemed so necessary.
ReplyDeleteif you're looking for a guest writer, i'd love to write a little piece about this...
Yeah, I would like that if you want to contribute a piece on this issue. It would also dovetail with the Limited Fork theme of collaboration. :)
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