Hello world,

I am writing to you today because I can’t find the answers to these questions. I don’t have any friends. Apparently. And I’m thinking a lot.

It all started when I received a message from Facebook. Technically not a message, but rather written communication from Facebook to me. As a user of Facebook, I take pride in being part of the Facebook explosion. In all my experience, this has been the most exciting time in history. None of your ancestors ever thought you could pick up a device and see a picture of a moment in time, halfway across the world.

Having said that, I have always been led to believe that communication & community is a tool, not a weapon. You communicate to build bridges and find hope. You find your community to uplift yourself. To be part of something bigger. It doesn’t seem so with Facebook.

As I scrolled through my news feed, eyes whitewashed and wide like a zombie, I found that I could see no more posts beyond a certain point. Like when your internet connection is bad and the damn page doesn’t load. But my internet was fine. Right where the page ended, and I could scroll no further, there was a message to me. Well, I suppose it was a message to me. From Facebook. Or by the software at Facebook.

No posts to show? How can you say that? Are none of my friends active on Facebook? Have all the pages stopped posting? This is strange.

But then I saw it. That message from Facebook to me. Find Friends. I could click it and be transported to a magical portal where I see all my requests, suggestions, messages, etc.

I hit back.

No posts to show. Find friends. What does that even mean?

This is beyond a point where things can be controlled, mind you. You and I are in thick, but not thick enough to stop this mess from influencing the future. We will pay for this, I think. It’s only a matter of time before the bombs come flying.

Question 1: What the flying fuck do you mean, find friends?

That’s hurtful. I don’t pride myself in being Mr. Popular, but I have never found myself to need more friends. I make friends through experience, and I’m not going to go chasing them. But you tell me to find friends. What are you trying to say? That I need more friends? Or that I need to have more friends if I want to view public posts? I’m not quite sure. At this point, I am disappointed. It seems as if I know nothing. I feel like an outcast, abandoned by something. We’re doomed, but isn’t there any hope?

Maybe this is a sign. Maybe this is a wake up call so I don’t fall behind. So I catch up with your ways. With the invisible laws of society that will govern the future. I’m willing to accept that. After all, there is not much I know. I merely watch, observing and hypothesizing in my head. This letter is as much as I’ve said the entire day. Maybe I need more friends. It’s not like I really care about all of the old ones right?

I go to my profile, taking it all in. Going through this page that I have built over years. This image of myself that apparently holds weight. I am interested in how many friends I might have to add. Maybe three? And here’s my second question - how many friends do I need?

Because I really think I have too many. I don’t care about many of them.

And 1252 is a lot of people.

So tell me, how many do I need before I have access to the ones I already have? What is this sort of blackmail? Where is this going? What is your intention with all this? Do you want the world to be connected to each other? In a genuine or forced manner? To elect Trump and make news insignificant, or to help share moments of triumph against oppression? Do I really have to find friends? Is that necessary? What happens if I want only a 100 friends? Will I be banned from certain features? Will I eventually be forgotten, banished from your theme park of opinions and ideas?

I believe that Facebook has immense control on the shape and dynamics of a 21st century youth. I am aware that the work they do is probably the genesis of many a revolution. But for all the intellect and intelligence of Facebook, there seems to be a lack of human authenticity. I go through the feed and I’m not hearing voices, I’m seeing posts. The posts mean more than the person posting. My comment is more important than my actual opinion. We’re all numbers on their sales charts, and the friendlier we are, the happier they are. But the funny part is, even when we become anti-community, so to speak. Angry. Opinionated. Trolls. This also works in their favour. To them as long as people are coming, it’s a party.

Well atleast that’s how it feels in my head. Things take weird shapes here.

It’s a confusing animal, this social networking. We ride it into the sunset of equality of justice, but when it’s hungry we see its rear, teeming with hate and trolls and racism and extreme lust for self-image.

When millions of us are dealing with such a complex system, shouldn’t I trust the maker? What happens when you see that the maker is just another person, struggling to keep it together?

I do not believe Facebook should be telling me to find more friends. It suddenly feels like an old friend has decided to become a bully. He’s calling me names, telling me what to do, making me do what he wants, clicking accepting rejecting.

I make things seem bigger than they are, I suppose. We can’t be so obsessed with insignificant problems like this. We must focus on now. The future. Big problems, revolutionary ideas. Groundbreaking advancement. Forward, always. Do big, the small will change.

What about starting small? Isn’t every cog crucial to this machine we’re building? What if we just decided to fix the problems in our immediate control? Would that be enough to turn the wheel the other way?

In all truth, this was just a server error for Facebook in specific regions of the world, but it got me worried sick, I rushed to write this letter. Don’t be mad that I said too much for no reason at all. That’s why you’re on Medium.

So tell me, world. Are these problems real? Do you think like I do? I’m afraid these are not healthy thoughts.

I have always been led to believe that communication & community is a tool, not a weapon. You communicate to build bridges and find hope. You find your community to uplift yourself. To be part of something bigger. Although I will have more friends and a bigger community, I feel like there’s somebody whispering in my ear, telling me to make space for more. Always nudging me to talk and share. Telling me about all the people I never speak to, and how many of them like me. Feeding me fables from foreign lands. It doesn’t feel like my community, it feels like theirs.

It feels like I am heading fast into the future, but my heart has somehow been left behind.