Media certainly have a powerful influence on how we mediate our interactions with others. As agents of socialization, they greatly affect our sense of belonging and our understanding of what is socially acceptable and what is awkward. Internet-based network applications created a virtual space where it is possible for all to be constantly in contact with everyone, even when we are alone.

     Moving to Singapore made me realize how much I was personally affected by Facebook. On my new smartphone, the "app" unfortunately does not work, and the SMS-based application is not available in here. Thus, I came to the realization that I constantly have an urge to share the most insignificant parts of my life, and yet, I am, most of the time, incapable to do so. Even scarier is that when I remember later on what I wanted to post, I often come to the conclusion that it is not worth it. Why? Because it is plainly meaningless.

     As a user of the "social network," I have personally criticized many people for disseminating just too much about themselves, or even worst, their own friends or relatives. Yes, I have seen the not-so-unusual fall from grace of many "Facebook friends" after they just went too far. And yet, what I realize is that we all go too far, we all share with increasing easiness our intimate lives.

     With the opportunity to stay in contact with people we rarely see, or might even never see again, comes the possibility for them to read things about ourselves. What we forget is that even if we want to tell our closest friends about what just happened, they are not the only ones to read it. Furthermore, it is increasingly easy also to share our lives offline as well, because the norms keep being relaxed.

     Of course, when Facebook became popular in Montreal about five years ago, it was not such a big deal, and it was easy to say just about any random thing that came to our minds, because there were few awkward people on it. However, we increasingly share information with former or present older coworkers, our friends' parents, and sometimes even our own relatives. Is this easiness to share now backfiring? It appears to be so. And the problem of course is that it is difficult to exclude these people since they will see that your "wall" looks different from their friends' one.

     The view that such networks are bringing people closer, however, is strongly deterministic. On the contrary, it only encourages people to interact at the most superficial level, either because they run out of things to say but continue to post rubbish, or because they fear who may actually read their comments. Yet, even if Facebook is increasingly awkward, it became so ritualized in our daily routine that we often forget that it is not necessary in our social loves. After all, Mark Zuckerberg did not invent language.