You and 3 Other People Like This

We don't have to be bothered anymore leaving a comment. We don't even need to look at it that closely. We just have to let the person know that it meets our approval.

Jenny ran out of gas in front of a crack house and is being stared at by scary people.

Jim's dog died.

Erin is no longer in a relationship with Matt.


We're now casual observers, but we're all friends. And whatever you just said on Twitter or Facebook has already been buried by other updates from other people. You thought your comment was witty or wise, but you only got three "Likes" from your 746 "Friends". Or you shared a link with the world and hoped that your passion for miniature horses or naked hang-gliding would catch on. A few friends "liked" what you posted, but it's no big sensation. They're on to liking other things now. Here's my local NBC affiliate, hoping I will like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. 

I actually do follow WESH on Twitter, but only because they tweet the dumbest things a local "news" organization has ever tweeted and I like to make fun of them. I'm not about to "like" them on Facebook.

"Like" is so easy. It means you came, you saw, you clicked. But comments mean a whole lot more and convey at least that you took a moment to investigate the post, link, comment or thought. But who has time for that anymore? We've all got a feed overflowing with updates to catch up on and clicking "Like" will get us to the end faster. Until it fills up again.

What am I saying? I don't know. Maybe, "Slow down some," but that's like the out-of-touch newspaper columnist who bemoans all this texting and gadgetry and pines for the old days of telegrams and handwritten letters and sipping lemonade on the porch as we gather in the evening to reflect, recollect and connect. But I think the superficiality of Facebook is getting near a tipping point and a lot of those 500 million people are going to have had enough of it before long.