Friend Me

Happy Friday Everyone! So today's topic. Facebook. I really hate how it controls every aspect of the college life if you allow it too. But allowing it too is the easiest part. Everyone here knows who's dating who, who did what this weekend, who was the drunkest in the photo, who's loving the "real world" and who's not, who's having a private party, who's invited to the party, and who wasn't.

But in the world of bella Firenze, Facebook was actually put to good use. I posted photos of the cities I'd visited to share with family and friends, kept in touch with people back in the states, and checked the latest news on night life and weekend trips on Facebook groups. For once, I actually put the entire site to use. I even changed the language on my page to Italian, so I would be forced to read in the language whenever I went on (clearly I assumed I'd be on a lot more than I was). There was no Facebook stalking, no staring at photos to avoid doing homework, and no need to be on the damn page every second you were near a computer.

Here at Syracuse, and about any other college life, facebook became much more than just keeping in touch with people. Evidently, this is not a new find, but I find it crazy how much we can adapt to utilizing a facebook world for logical purposes and then turning it into an obsession once back in the college sphere.

In Florence, I never cared about what other people were doing because I was so focused on what I was doing-being outside exploring and wandering around. When I had time to sit at a computer it was to skype with my parents or type up a creative writing assignment. It was never to go on facebook to pass time. Facebook was to see what was new in the states. At Syracuse, I do not need facebook to see what's new on campus. But we still feed on it and stare at photos of last night or last weekend or even photos from ten minutes ago. I wonder if its pathetic or if its a way of reliving memories over and over again.

I find myself looking at my photos from Florence and my past college years less and less because sometimes it hurts to relive those moments. We miss them too much. Yet we enjoy looking at the photos so recently to remind ourselves of who we are now or how much fun a certain night was. While in Florence, I wanted to see photos of what was going on back at Syracuse because it wasn't my past. Rather, it was sort of like peeking in on the present from an outsider's point of view. Seeing a world that is not yours at the moment but will be when you return there.

Now, back at Syracuse, I ignore anything related to Florence study abroad invites. I become too nostalgic. I try to see facebook for all its pros, but I can't. It connects the world in too many ways. It's a living scrapbook that may not waste paper, but it wastes a hell a lot of my time.

I just can't seem to close the screen here...