Social Networking vs Blogging

So me and the gf were having a discussion about the differences between these two, she thinks I have double standards because I am dead set against social networking whilst having my own blog. Now I agree with her on some points but I dont on others.

I am going to use Facebook/MySpace as my example because quite simply I cant stand them and it annoys me how so many people are so damn passionate about something which is generally a complete waste of time ...

Facebook/MySpace promotes a massively multiplayer popularity contest, its like school on steroids with a layer of XML and Ajax thrown in for flavour ... you are ranked according to how many friends you have ... you are given loads of tools specifically designed for you to express just how much of a tosser you are ... streaming your dumbass stunts from youtube ... delivering pictures of your holiday to whothefuckcaresville ... all while streaming your lame attempts at making music on your pee cee ... fuck man ... one of the most popular widgets is to 'throw a sheep' at another person ... like wtf are these people smoking ... and where do i buy some ?

Why the fuck dont they have the "I may have given you VD" widget ... which allows you to specify who in your group you have slept with and thus allow you to inform them (and their many partners) that you may have passed some unpronouncable disease which you cant remember where you got it from ...

Now that Ladies and Gentlemen is a widget worth developing ... throw a fucking sheep at that biatch !!

Then of course is the example of 'catching up with old friends' ... while this may be true my question is why the fuck didnt these people 'catch up' with me when I left my small little town ... where the fuck were they when I needed someone to talk to or share my fears of this great big open world ... and why now do I let them into my life just because technology allows it (ive had email for over 10 years - why only now??) ... just cause they can find me easier it means they should be allowed back into my circle ?

Then of course there are the people who wouldnt give you the fucking time at school but now message you with 'its been so long' ... so long since when ? since you last threw an insult my way ? or last forgot to greet me cause I simply wasnt 'kewl enough' ... fuck all of you ... none of you wanted my time when I was directly in front of you so why do you deserve it now ?

Facebook promotes the sharing of information ... WHAT !?! By allowing people to create segmented groups based on taste and 'whats in right now' and then expecting you to subscribe to them ? Isnt that the same as those 'clicks' experienced in a school going environment ... when I was at school I had 3 of these ... they were:

The nerds/geeks in the library all playing Magic the Gathering and discussing the latest fantasy series which has just had a new volume release (when the fuck will Wheel of Time actually end??) ... swapping stiffies (disks ... man ... disks) with the latest monographic game that you cant wait to get home to try, only to find it doesnt run ...
The 'semi cool' crowd who gathered outside to discuss the merits of Live vs Smashing Pumpkins or {insert band of the week here} ... each with an independent view but eventually just agreeing with the majority out of fear of being kicked out of the group ...
And the crowd you bump into whilst waiting in line at the tuck shop (tho typically these were just 'acquaintances') ... who you actually wanna get to know a little better cause they seem really interesting but that you know will only speak to you in this circumstance because they are away from the herd they call friends and are finally allowed to have an individual view ... which in the group politics will mean they wont think twice about shoving you in the closest dustbin ...

Why exactly should I segment myself in an environment where I have the flexibility to go where I want ... read what I want ... share the opinion that I want ...

Which brings me to blogging ... with a blog my aim isnt to gather a readership of 200+ or implement stupid widgets that allow people to throw shit at me for no apparent reason ... if I have a video of relevance I can post it ... but its mine ... I choose to do this not for the benefit of others but rather for the benefit of myself ... this is my platform to bitch and moan about the things I want ... when I want and how I want ... if people comment I can read it ... I can ignore it ... I can respond or not ... I dont care if they never come back cause I wont be constantly notified of this through an email indicating that a 'friend has left my network' ...

Think about it in a real world sense ... does anyone truly have 200+ REAL friends ... people you can truly rely on and who you know love u for just you ... I would rather count these people on one hand than be able to state that I have a network of friends I collect ONLINE of all places ... people in differing states (physically and in mind) who I may never meet and who are considered a friend because of our common liking of some arb band whose music touched us in some or the other way ... maybe its just me but the thought of sharing the experience of listening to this band through the both of you streaming it at the same time just doesnt sound like the same thing as sitting in a smokey room talking shit while the band plays on the stereo in the background ...

I do agree that in both cases we are exposing elements of ourselves to an online world ... but I do think the goals are what differ ... if I only ever read this blog myself (and my beautiful regular reader reads it too - love u babe) then I am happy ... but if my goal is to build up as many friends as I can in order to be considered 'complete' then I totally against it.

With blogging I can hide behind a psuedonym and still talk shit without necessary consequence, yet with social networking my friends will not know who I am unless I expose as much about me as possible (including where I went to school and what my favourite food is etc) ... even if I choose to hide my profile to only those I allow I appear to defeat the purpose defined in growing your circle as fast as possible (isnt this unsocialble networking ?) ...

I dunno ... I agree but I also dont agree ... I like being a private person so understand why she thinks its a double standard ... but I do believe its not the technolgy to be compared but rather the intentions behind supporting said technology ... socialized networking is to blogging the same thing in essense ... each influences and uses the technology of the other ... but in my opinion my intentions for blogging are personal ... if I ever had intentions to join a Facebook/MySpace I spose my intentions would instead be to grow my network much like I have done on LinkedIn (a social network concept - however having true value for enhancing your working relationships) ...

Your milage may (and probably does) vary ... the choice however is always your to take ...