To paraphrase Sufjan:

I feel I’ve known you

I feel I’ve seen you

When your mug was on my screen

This is the age of Facebook,

Entertaining living

I live alone. I can’t seem to find the time or energy to hang out with people, yet I find myself lonely at times. Making and keeping friends was never one of my skills, and now, in this little studio apartment, I’m feeling it.

Insidious Facebook dulls the urgency of my situation. Disconnected from your friends? No! Look, right there on the screen! He’s right there. She’s right there. There’s all of us together last year, when we still used to go to the bar.

Facebook’s allure is twofold: the worship of one’s own life, and delight in viewing others’ lives. The same two-sided pull makes people dream of being movie stars and then plops them down on the couch to watch reality TV. (I wasn’t talking about you, just making a sweeping generalization.) The sacred ritual is entertainment, and whether we find ourselves inside the screen or outside it, the transcendent privilege of being involved is addictive.

If you’re going to live a life of disconnection, you might as well get through it entertained.