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Luv is all around
I feel it in my fingers; I feel it in my posts.
As they become more and more a part of our daily lives it seems our generation has become one of Bebo luv givers and Facebook pokers. And while this air of ‘luv’ and general friendliness is normally something be applauded, what exactly are we compensating for?
Instead of taking pride in a few special friendships we are competing with each other in our friend counts, the amount of little hearts we receive and how many times we appear as a ‘Top Friend’. Friendship and love are no longer held sacred, instead they have become a competition that we try and buy with new applications, photos and even making friends with those people we didn’t really like anyway back in primary school. How many 'Top Friend' lists do you appear on? How many profile views? How much 'luv' did you get today? What is this 'luv' anyway? It is nothing more than a cheap imitation of its glorious and rare cousin. Why is it so valuable then? Think about it, it is really no more valuable than the cheap paper cups that hold your daily cups of coffee. And just as disposable too.
It’s all noisy displays of meaningless affection. We kiss and hug all acquaintances; we ‘love’ everyone who shows us any kindness, when they compliment us on the new top we wear. The streets contain armies of these loud girls screaming their affections for each other. And this love is just as fickle as it is loud. It can be given only three times a day. Three times a day? You can LOVE three different people a day? And it can be taken away as simply as it can be given. I understand the thought behind it is all very well meaningful and sweet but it still debases the word, the real meaning behind it. It makes it as throwaway as a fashion magazine. Why not use another word? Why can we not keep this one word sacred? To those who have it, it is one of the most important words ever to come from their throats, their hearts. To debase the mere word lowers all that it stands for, the real friendships. Remember the ones with the real people in our real lives?
No longer do we make that special effort to meet up with someone, plans are no longer made a few weeks previously, schedules carefully synchronised. Instead now you text someone a few hours before you go out and he or she's dammed if they cannot make it, what’s the worst that will happen? They won’t be in those specific pictures on Facebook. Before mobiles we had to ring people and make hard and fast arrangements for fear that the person could be missed. And with all this mobile technology it is easier now to flake on any plans you do make. A stream of free-text "I’m so so so sorry hun" and "I luv you" will fix all that. Give them some Bebo luv too, and all is better.
It’s not to say all this wonderful technology hasn’t made maintaining friendship over long distances easier, or to chat up objects of affection, especially in those awkward early stages. It is just worrying when the same love and attention is given to 'your other half' and the guy who used to sit behind you in 3rd year Maths who smelled a bit funky. Maybe we need to divide our profile pages more carefully, or be more selective. Or maybe we just need a new word.
Do you think that real friends are made online?! Debate it in the forum!
By: Bríd Ryan
