Jose Anes Weblog

I am not a fan of Reality TV Shows. When I watch them I get the feeling someone wants me to outsource my life to them. I get the feeling that we can feel like we are getting the emotions or satisfactions of surviving a desert island or dropping 40 pounds without having to endure the mosquitoes or the treadmill. It just doesn’t feel right: part of me feels guilty of being on the couch while I could be doing just the same thing, and the other part feels like ‘anything worth doing is worth doing right’. Watching them makes me feel like I have outsourced all of the effort of planning and preparation, not to mention the activity and the persistence of doing it, without having to go through all that trouble, and in the end I got the ’same’ emotion. Except for one thing: I know I didn’t got the same emotion, just enough emotion to satisfy me for the night.

Nothing wrong with outsourcing either. I get a lot of outsourced work and I do it very well. I also outsource many things that I really like to do, but decide to outsource: like lawn mowing – and my lawn mowing company may do it better than when I do it. Certainly the reality TVs have people who do things right. I almost feel impressed by the producers, who have been able to find a way to captivate so many people in front of the tube without using actors or very detailed scripts: brilliant. They get it even easier than newscasters, and a bigger audience as well.

Then I realize that Facebook creator is even smarter! It is a way of outsourcing life without even incurring in TV broadcasting costs or traveling to a desert island. You get to enjoy emotions that you would otherwise need to enjoy in contact with others from the comfort of your desk (and my workstation chair is more comfortable than my couch, I must say). You can flip through the pages of a friend’s photo album, re-live his/her adventures, indulge in lively conversations in a way that we all know doesn’t even start to resemble flipping through the album while having coffee with your friend, much less having participated of the same activity (with your friend, or a different set of friends). When using Facebook we might get the feeling we have done that friendly sharing — not the same as if it was in person, but just enough to satisfy yourself for a day. I feel like I have just outsourced something that is ought to be done by yourself, in person. Nothing wrong with that, but I start to get the feeling again that ‘anything worth doing is worth doing right’… just that there isn’t enough time to share all of that experiences with 300 Facebook friends.

And nothing wrong with Facebook. It is a great social networking tool. It helps keep in touch with friends you seldom keep in touch, and find the ones you have lost contact with. It also helps keep yourself aware of their life changes and activities. It is great. It is just that for a moment, it can feel like you are outsourcing your life.