Decluttering Online

I'm going through a massive decluttering of my Facebook at the moment. It's interesting to see where people from my past have ended up, but I'm starting to feel a bit like a voyeur. If I'm not willing (or simply don't have the time) to expend the effort to actually keep in touch with them, what right do I have to snoop through their photos, coo over their new babies, sigh about heartbreak and flit curiously through their wall postings? So I'm downsizing.

It's surprisingly refreshing.

There's so much to keep up on today. If you want to be abreast of what's happening in the world, a gazillion websites and bloggers are ready to give you their "expert" opinion on everything that is occurring right this very minute. You could waste hours getting caught up on world news. Massive amounts of information are available at the touch of a button and the overload seems to have a surprising effect. Instead of deepening our relationships, ideas and thought-processes, the trend seems to be leaning towards oversimplification and superficiality.

It makes sense. In order to live in excess, we have to lower our standards. You can't possibly devote the same attention to thirteen hobbies that you can to just one. It's not possible to keep up with 542 friends in the same way you can with a dozen or so.

Or, as my husband so wittily put it, "I have 252 friends. I need to do some culling-I don't like that many people!" He was joking, of course. But just because I like or liked someone doesn't mean that I want to know what they ate for lunch yesterday, the current playlist on their MP3 player or what faddish internet game they're collecting points for this week. And if I really liked them, I think I'd probably sit down and write an email. Or better, a letter. On actual paper. With a fountain pen and ink.

On that note, I think I have some correspondence to catch up on! Want snail mail? Send me your address!