The Generation F

Generation Facebook. That's what it means. Not "Generation FeyVored", if that crossed your mind. And if it didn't, sorry, read on. Please.

In recent times, as I log in to my facebook account, my mind tends to conjur up images of a large hall. And as I press the Enter key to complete the tedious (as I have such a long username) process of logging in, subconsciously and habitually, I prepare myself as I enter into this large beaming hall to make my presence known.

Characterised mainly by "friends" who seem to be clawing over one another to get their points across, this hall- like a very large and noisy classroom, noticeably has various types of students:

The first category my mind picks up are the 'Noisemakers'. These are the movers and the shakers of my homepage-almost constantly having something to say or share. A few of them use exclamation marks excessively to make a point- "Hi!!!!!!" They regularly feed my otherwise starving 'Home' page with information such as Youtube links, online news links, pictures and 'What's on their minds' that may or may not be needed and sometimes, a little too intimate, tending to take away the element of surprise from their daily activities. As I pass by these people, to some, I am inclined to leave a message; "TMI man, T-M-freaking-I!"

A subclass of the Noisemakers are the 'Bubblers'. These are people who seem to be living it up according to the notifications this social-networking facility gives you. Regular attenders of various (cyber) events, I gather these people are very socially active from the frequent uploads of pictures and live eventful lives based on their status updates. But as one of my teachers stated, these people are likely to spend more time updating their statuses (some as regular as every ten minutes) and taking pictures at social gatherings than they do enjoying the actual party. Seriously, all that is needed nowadays is to make some silly pose e.g. a semi-profile view of yourself with one eye closed in a wink and your tongue stuck out and Voila! the cyber world knows you are having fun at the party. Yes, I'm serious. Don't even get me started on some explicitness that I occasionally bump into- all in the name of making photographic memories while having "fun".

The second category of friends/users/students (rule out the option that makes no sense to you) are the 'Backbenchers'. This category is similar to classmates at school who (unfortunately) you take no notice of them. In facebook land, they tend to sneak in once in a while, post a comment or something on your wall and sneak back out. I have a good friend who does this and when asked why, she says it's because she wants to keep a low facebook profile. Beats me.
Subclass to the Backbenchers are the 'Quiet'. For some reason, these people believe that you are seen as jobless if you regularly (not constantly, mind you) feed friends with the goings-on of your life. Funny enough, some of these people spend as much time on facebook as the noisemakers but are careful not to live any footprints of where they have been. To these people, my message is "This is unacceptable behaviour". If you keep up with other peoples lives and give no information on yours you're inadvertently a stalker. Mmhmm. That's not coolio.

The third, but not at all least, are the 'Undercover Heroes'. Weird name, I know. Liberated by the barriers of time and space, people under this category have no fear in saying or doing what they like. However, bear in mind that they are only heroes while in facebook land. In reality, their powers are feckless. I have seen "activists" on facebook that when I had a chance to talk to them face-to-face they shrivelled. A funny story; about 2 years ago I was opportuned to meet someone whom, unintentionally, I started an adventure with. Apparently, I was his lost princess and he claimed he was my knight. I can't begin to say how weird it was when we eventually met in reality and my adventure lost all its vitality. Even weirder, Mr. Knight, kept making advances on facebook. If I hadn't brought him to his senses, he probably would have proposed to me- via facebook chat. Unbelievable guy. As I pass by his category, I say "Man up before real life passes you by"

There may be other categories, but I believe each one could fall under any of the major 3.

I had a conversation with a much older friend asking her how she felt this social-networking site has affected my generation. "People, are becoming more closed up", she said "spending more time talking and typing to a screen than conversing with an actual person. A vast number of people in your age group have left the duty of conveying their feelings on an issue to emoticons" I agree 8-). Another friend fears mostly about the deterioration of vocabulary. She constantly complains about friends who make unbelievable typos and those that now speak in abbrievations. "LOL" I say giggling, "TTYL".
To be fair, and to my advantage, is the fact that I have been reconnected with people that otherwise would have disappeared totally from my life. Also, my news feeds are usually blessed with good news, people discovering useful things and also some beautiful photos I must say. It's also a good way to showcase talent. But don't forget- too much of everything is bad; regularly having my eyes focused closely on a bright screen for long stretches of time has led to my wearing glasses. Not like you care though. I should know my limits you might say- and you'll be right.

As I am about to conclude delivering my messages to the groups, I realise that somehow I do belong in all three of them. I look around to see if anyone is eyeing me as I leave my own notes-to-self. No one is. Great. I make my way up to the stage to give a speech- usually packed with bigs words too deep for most people, sometimes including myself, to understand. As I climb, I sense no attention being given to me. I call order to the huge disorganised room. They're a little silent. This is my chance to show them what I've got. I do it activist style.

"Who are we?!" I belt out
"Generation F!" They answer with slurred words
"What do we want?"...
Silence. No one gets my point. No surprise as I'm not even sure what I'm on about...Slowly, the usual noise builds up. I get off the stage, it's shaky anyway.

From the top left corner, a bright red flash catches my eye. A notification. "Ah, finally!"
I am so eager to see who it's from.

Super Facebook.