Rant: On Facebook

Often on Tuesdays and Thursdays I succumb to the pressure of a professor of Tocqueville who has it out for facebook and deactivate my facebook account. Now, admittedly this is an extreme measure (mediated by the fact that it is quite easily undone), and I return before many days, or hours, have passed. BUT I think that there is a way to do facebook and there are ways not to do facebook. Would I like a fake pet for my profile? Would I like to be a zombie or a vampire or a pirate or a character from the Lord of the Rings that I've never heard of? Would I like to advertise for my religion or have a daily bible verse? Would I like a fake flower garden or a fake alcoholic beverage, with corresponding fake levels of intoxication? Would I like to compare my friends to each other? I think I can safely and easily answer "no" to all of these questions.



One summer when I was a young girl, my friends and I built a little village out of cardboard and played dolls. We had jobs for the dolls, we made miniature food, had doctors appointments, bought cars and went to church. This sort of play seems to be a normal part of childhood--as MacIntyre tells us, it is through stories that we learn about the roles of life that we have been born into, and how we are going to act in those roles. BUT once we have moved into those roles, we no longer need to pretend. Really, we could get our own dogs and flower gardens at this point. Alas, we cannot actually be zombies, but that may be for the best (and reveal another, separate problem in people who want to play a role that isn't even possible).