Kids these days...

As many of you probably know, Facebook recently changed its layout. And as many of you have probably noticed, the world is up in arms about it. Now personally, I also like the old facebook better. But I think its more than a little ridiculous how angry people are about it. A quick look reveals that there are over 500 groups dedicated to the noble cause of bringing the old webpage layout back, consisting of (assuming there is little overlap) over 2 million people. I'm positive that this is an understatement, since there were several pages more of similar groups that I couldn't bear to look through. In addition to being simply annoying (folks, please stop posting statuses about how you can't find your "flair" or your pet rock anymore -- its probably a good thing that its lost in the digital ether), but I think that it says some disturbing things about the "facebook generation", or if I wanted to be a little more curmudgeonly, "kids these days."

1) That people are so wrapped up in themselves, as well as dependent on technology to express themselves, that a minute change in a website devoted to shameless self-promotion and self-aggrandizing constitutes a crisis that demands immediate attention and collective action.

2) That the number of groups devoted to bringing back the old facebook rivals the number of groups dedicated to ending world poverty or environmental degradation. This reminds me of a sign I saw on the UMass campus the other day recruiting students for the non-profit MassPIRG. Providing a brief, schizophrenic list of the causes one can work on by volunteering for the organization, it listed "save the environment" next to "lower textbook prices." I wish I could remember the other examples, but the point being that each cause is seen as equally important -- that problems affecting the entire human race and the fate of the planet are put on even keel with a financial issue impacting 1 percent of the world's population, most of whom are pretty well off when compared with the rest of humanity.

3) And finally, that the primary form of collective action these days consists of forming and joining groups on facebook. Clearly, MassPIRG shows us that students do still volunteer for non-profits. However, I doubt that over 2 million students do so. Cyberactivism, or slacktivism, is one of the easiest, laziest, and ineffectual ways to feel like you're making a difference. I'm sorry -- you are NOT saving an African child by clicking here. You are NOT saving endangered elephants by getting 1,000,000 people to join your group. You are breeding inactive, apathetic, atomized self-righteousness, where activism is something you do on your computer to kill time in between classes.

Anyways, I apologize for the rant. If you agree with what I've said, and want to do more to help, please click here and help me get 6 billion people to join my totally rad facebook group. Its got flair and everything.