A Facebook Rant

I've noticed something recently.
Particularly the popularity of digital cameras and high-quality camera-phones. Have you ever noticed that whenever you go out at night, you can always spot at least a few people posing for photos on the camera? And that it happens many, many times during the course of a night?

I noticed this particularly when I was out at a family dinner for my grandma's birthday. My older cousin (who is married, pregnant, and an absolute bitch to have to work with), and her husband were having fun with his expensive SLR digital camera, taking all sorts of happy snaps. Every so often, a particularly funny-looking image would crop up, and she would declare that 'we have to facebook it.'

Now this leads me to wonder ... the typical facebook photos are just a group of people smiling, with different backgrounds. Sometimes you get people doing silly/funny stuff, but mostly it's just people smiling for the camera. I wonder ... what drives people to take these photos just so they can upload it to their facebook/myspace?

I feel that in a way, it's fake. You have to put up the photos to prove to your friends and relatives that you have a fun, interesting life. Some get a kick out of having others comment on their happy-snaps. Some attention whores need the validation that comes with commenting on pics. In a way, I suppose it's because it makes them feel like their existence is being acknowledged, and they are being validated through attention from others. I suppose that's the whole reason why social-networking sites like Facebook are so popular nowadays - not just to keep in contact, but in a shallow way, to prove that you're better than others, by the happy-snaps you take while out at a club or a bar, that you actually have an interesting life. And yet, that's somewhat boring in itself - everyone goes out to clubs and bars, and gets drunk and does some stupid shit.