I'll have to cut back on my weird crime story obsessions

Since I've been out of the journalism game for a while, I've fallen behind in the latest social media/online journalism marketing trends. I got on the bandwagon fairly early, at one point maintaining Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, Delicious, and Flickr accounts. However, adding the former hyperlinks forced me to visit some of those pages for the first time in months. Partly because of the legal ramifications for teachers with an online presence (no matter how squeaky clean it may be), and my limited patience for extraneous computer use during the past year, I've slowly pulled back from the world wide web.

But the other day when I was browsing the Washington Post, I noticed a new feature (or at least new to me): in the top right corner of the home page, I can view what my Facebook friends are reading and sharing from the paper's online content. This disturbed me for several reasons. One, I still get slightly creeped out when websites know more about me that I tell them, such as my Facebook friends or targeted advertising. Two, it provides yet another distraction from reading actual news, and instead adds a whole new level to a person's Facebook stalking abilities.

But I think the most unnerving about this addition was its representation of the larger problem: we rely on digital communication to tell us something about a person. Sure, it's interesting to see that Susan* read about the Coney Island hot dog eating contest, but in the grand scheme of things, I don't really care. I am completely guilty of flooding friends' inboxes with articles or interesting sites; I also know half of these go ignored, which in no way hurts my feelings. I even link my Delicious account to this blog, and try to link a variety of articles. To date I only know of 2 people ever reading one of these articles because I linked it.

I agree with *Jeremy* on most political and social issues. But rarely am I going to see that he liked the latest "summer pet pics" series and suddenly be motivated to view yappy dogs dressed in bathing suits.

I do have to say, the articles being highlighted made me proud of the depth and intellect of most of my "friends." But just remember, your future employer could see your unending devotion to the latest Kardashian family gossip and think twice...