Less Interested

On the dates divisible by 4 I shun Facebook and Twitter.  It took some willpower at first but lately it hasn't. That day being yesterday, I opened neither, had no Fear of Missing Out, acronymed FOMO. There was a time when I sort of did, but not lately.  The permissibility of social media returned to me at 5:30AM this morning but being tired, I had no inclination to see what I missed until more awake.  Then I did, only to discover that I missed nothing.  Two groups had responded to trivial comments on mine, one about the Eagles where I hinted that their coach needed to repent for some misconduct, the other about a site near my childhood home where my father had been sent for basic training when drafted into World War 2.  No reactions from anyone I actually knew about anything I had written, whether written about myself or in response to something somebody else has written.

As I go about the posts of the 24 hours that I avoided, they were mostly political posts pitching the hardball to excoriate the President, who I think deserves the demeaning remarks, or defending the blight that challenges our election.  By now I've gotten the hang of each position.  One very good friend has a daily presentation of science which I should read, though gradually evolving from the purity of analysis to the justification of his position on the public discourse of the day. That I regularly read, and often submit my own comment.

What has happened to Facebook seems a form of attrition.  I've been a participant about ten years, according to their records, as I do not keep my own records on this.  It was great to connect to high school chums, a few friends at the time, more acquaintances who became electronic friends.  Gradually their individual presence has waned. Most used to write about events of their lives, from vacations to challenges at work, their pets, or what they knitted or cooked.  They engaged in basically written conversation about themselves.  That's a lot different than the written placards which dominate now.

As the forum changes, so does my interest.  Sometimes as I read, or really glance at, what some repetitively post, I find myself in an unwelcome position of thinking less of the poster, their disdain for thought trampling my memories of them as engaging contemporaries who I once knew personally.  As this become more the norm, displacing the electronic banter that made Facebook attractive, I can understand the gradual attrition of my acquaintances from the forum, along with my own waning interest in engaging with what remains.