Happy Humpday Haiku #25

On Neurotic Behavior: An Ode to the Refresh Button

FOMO really is

The begrudging loneliness, 

Unchecked and Frenzied.

            How many times have you gone onto Facebook to check something, and the next time you looked at the clock an hour disappeared? Out of those times, how many times have you hit the refresh button to see if anything new has popped up? Shit happens to me all the time. It's a sick habit, and one that I'm not proud of (ask my girlfriend about it). I can't imagine this is uncommon. Yet, why is that? Some researchers have shown that time spent on Facebook and loneliness is positively correlated, though there is a lack of evidence to establish causality between the two. Needless to say, not everybody that uses Facebook is lonely, and not everyone who is lonely uses Facebook. But why does the correlation exist?

            In this age of the hyper-(psuedo)informed public, there is a plethora things to do. But how do you know which things to do? Do you choose based on who is going where? Do you choose based on personal preferences? Is timing and scheduling an issue? Will you regret not doing one thing instead of another? Can you ever be truly satisfied with your decision? 

           Perhaps I'm giving too much weight to this. Although, spending six months in a different country has made me realize that the internet (and by proxy, Facebook) is the only window I have into the world I left behind. It's difficult to look through that window to see the people and places I left behind and not wax nostalgic. Which is not to say that I'm not having the time of my life in Korea. Nor would I say that I'm lonely. And yet I can't help thinking of all the times I've sat at my computer for hours on end hitting the refresh button, checking to see if there's anything else I might be missing.