It occurred to me this morning that I was finished with the politics of Facebook while I listened to the Van Gogh poster I’d tried to hang up the night before begin to rip away from the corrugated wall of my studio apartment.
I lay there, iPhone in palm, at 3:45am. The sound of the tape peeling off the wall had woken me up, but what was the first thing I did upon waking?
I checked Facebook.
It’s sad, really. This dependence I’ve felt to Facebook for the last few years. The idea of this website is beautiful. It was such a revolutionary way to share photos, ideas, links, videos, memories, words… instantaneously with all of your friends (who cared to “subscribe” to you) at the same time. Incredible!
So what happened? Over time, the people who I met in high school got married, had children, and posted baby photos. My family members slowly joined and began posting embarrassing videos of me as a child. I began to drink and enjoy parties, and evidence of that began popping up through the “tagging” feature. “Check In”s became “Stalk Me”s. The question of “is this the real deal?” would pop in my head if our “friendship” didn’t turn into “in a relationship”.
When did Facebook become the God of the Internet?
At 3:46am, I saw an argument on my Facebook wall timeline. Incidently, the discussion I was looking for wasn’t what these comments were about. Instead, a single comment was taken out of context and made into a discussion itself. My family members got involved and things blew out of proportion. It ended with a phone call — technically a Skype call — where I had to explain the situation to said family member and ask her to politely stop with the political overtones on my Facebook comments.
Why should I have to say such a thing? I thought. I have no business telling people what they can and cannot say. I’m not a fan of censorship and I do not condone it in writing or reading, so why start now?
I realized then… my Facebook is extremely censored! I pick and choose what posts, photos, and videos I show to which people. Should I feel that some will be offended, I exclude those people from seeing the post! But why?
I’m starting to understand now that my personal life does not belong in the eyes of everyone I know from high school and university, nor does it belong in the eyes of neighbors, acquaintances, or family members. Facebook literally forces these pictures, videos, thoughts, ideas, and philosophies of mine into the heads of those people who may normally not want to see them.
…Which is why I am here. Welcome to my blog. Here, you will see nothing but the real deal. Anything I would have posted on Facebook, I will put here. I love sharing links to recipies, videos, and scientific discussions. I am part of a 366 Day Photo Challenge that helps my skills in Photography (and helps me build routine skills). I can elaborate on things I find interesting or odd about Korean culture. I can share, link, recommend, discuss, post, and extend myself through writing without censorship.
A free press can be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will never be anything but bad. ~Albert Camus
Everything "Rae" 
This really inspires me to blog/write more and facebook less! I love it!
Wow. That was pretty deep!
hi ! i just stumbled on your blog and then i found this part…i never facebooked until , one day i traveled to a small village in Italy and ended up staying there for a while…anyway that is another story…the town where i was had no internet until 2007. so i thought it would be great i can start my fb page with the other 3 people who have internet access. in the village then the internet hit and shortly there after the whole little town ends up on fb. i speak italian, fairly well but, writing is another story. its a difficult language to write correctly. what ended up happening was people started to take offense to my humor and posts ALL THE TIME! then some of the older folks started getting into fb. in a small town if you dont accept all fb friendship requests people stop talking to you when you pass them in the street, it is considered a serious offense! apparently that was all i did WAS OFFEND PEOPLE!some of these older folks are very religious so when i posted a profile picture of Blacula(the Black Dracula very famous film) for halloween with Blacula showing his fangs and dripping with blood i had the entire catholic church on my back. it was so bad i was upset all the time. when i would leave the house i would be stopped in the street and had to deal with people asking me questions , such as, “why did you post that????” when you are not in America you dont realize the freedom of speech and the beauty of a good and actual sense of humor. so i am right there with ya on the fb sentiment. i switched to the bloggoshere and am very happy! really like your blog and your writing!!!