Mrs. Dude and the 'orgy of overshare'

I have this ridiculous love-hate relationship with Facebook.

I enjoy Facebook because I can stalk people catch up with people that I might not otherwise have time to stalk connect with.

The people in my life who are my Facebook friends fall into two categories:
1.People I am currently acquainted with either virtually or "In Real Life."
2.People I was friends with at some point in the past but with whom I will probably not become reacquainted with more than superficially.

There are some people who started out in Category 2 who have moved to Category 1, and for that I am eternally grateful for Facebook.

My problem with social networking is--

Wait? You're tired of hearing people rant about social networking?

Humor me.

--something I'd like to call the 'orgy of over-share.'

The thing that made me aware of this 'orgy of over-share' that Facebook is facilitating was that '25 things' meme that every. single. person. on Facebook is doing.

The gist is this:
Get "tagged" by your friend, make a list of 25 things about yourself that nobody knows, tag 25 of your friends.

I have enjoyed learning more about the people I truly am interested in. I even came up with 25 facts about myself. All of them were true, and most of them were dreadfully boring.

But it's growing tiresome.

There is now a 100-question meme and a meme for mommies about the birth of one's first child.

There's an A-Z meme and an iPod shuffle meme.

It's 'meme madness' people!

This giant orgy of over-share is making me kind of want some time away from Facebook. I like you, but I really don't want to know that much about you.

And I posted a status message yesterday that said something about stopping the 'meme madness.'

In response, my awesome friend Amy sent me a link to this article that included the phrase "virtual narcissism."

And that, my friends, is where we get to the heart of my beef with social networking.

For all of the awesome ways in which social networking helps us connect to other people, it's still just another way for us to talk on and on about ourselves.

It reminds me of that thought in psychology that when you talk to someone, you spend more time formulating your next thought than you do paying attention to what they're saying.

I know that I sounds like a hypocritical Jerky JerkFace by saying all of that after having participated in the 'orgy of overshare' myself.

I guess I just wish that all of us, myself included, were a little bit better about self-censoring and not so keen to share so much about ourselves.