What Has Facebook Become?

I've often wondered about what the world's most popular social networking site has evolved to now. Is it a news feed of a daily "selfie" collage, political discussions that potentially destroys friendships, or does it still retain its function of keeping up and connecting with your friends? I guess my real question is, do people really still care about what their friends post on Facebook?

I remember signing up for Facebook almost nine years ago and it was one of those things where you had to know someone with a Facebook account who goes to your school to be able to create an account. Facebook was just on the rise and MySpace was about to begin its downfall.

At that point, posting was everything. Connect with your friends and write on their wall, the basic principle of actually keeping in touch with someone over the Internet? Instant messaging? What is that anymore?

As technology evolved and Facebook's vision of keeping people connected expanded, we now see everyone's photos of their face, inspirational quotes, pets, food, marriage, child, etc. Do our friends on Facebook care enough about seeing that stuff now?

I think Facebook is dictated by its "like" button. Something that is "liked" a lot must mean people care a lot of what's posted right? Like Reddit with "upvotes", or Instagram with its "like" function (using a heart), or even Twitter with retweets and favorites. So are we as an online society "fishing for likes"?

I used to post a lot of Facebook before a like button existed. You only had comments. So your criticism from your friends for posting on Facebook too much is in the form of words. Words hurt sometimes, man. Isn't posting stuff about your daily life one of the purposes on Facebook? You could say that if people are actually getting annoyed by your constant posting that they're not really your friends. Would you say the same to even your closest friends? The ones you actually hang out with outside the Internet?

I don't even know if Facebook is about daily life anymore. A lot of it from my perspective is a lot of links being posted to other articles and then your friends having an almost bitter discussion about it. A lot of negative energy on my news feed.

I guess we're fortunate we don't have to "unfriend" people anymore. You can just "unfollow" someone without giving the insult of unfriending them. I live the life where I post something maybe once or twice a month, just to let people know I'm alive, because at this day and age, an online presence is everything.

What about from the perspective of the poster? Do you think they care whether or not other people are going to care about what they posted? Are they sharing a photo of their car thinking it's going to get a ton of likes? Are they sharing it because it's part of updating their friends on their life story?

I don't know. My brain hurts. Maybe I'm falling behind the social media curve. Is that what happens when you age? You fall behind and your brain hurts because you can't decipher some mystery that has millions of different answers?

Thanks for indulging my thoughts, Internet. When Facebook's "dislike" button comes, I believe this will truly be a testament of making or breaking Facebook friendships. Because disliking all of your friend's potential Christmas card photos is really going to make things awkward at the next party.