9 U
2B Wednesday, September 12, 2012 // The Statement
THE JUNK DRAWER
91
7W
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Wensdy Speme 1,202 Th taeen B
Fearing the fear of missing out
from last week: ivf & mental illness random student interview
If you were infertile, would you consider performing in by brandon shaw
vitro fertilization with a frozen egg? Welcome to the Random Stu- I don't know wh
at you're getting them than me.
No
20%
dent interview, where we get
random and crazy, like I am all
the time.
What's your name?
Sam.
Tell me about yourself.
I'm a freshman at the University of
Michigan and I'm -
That's good. Can you name five
Bruce Springsteen songs?
No.
Do you know who Bruce Spring-
steen is?
I don't know what I'mgetting at,
either. So what are you study-
ing?
Computer science engineering,
math and econ. That's what I really
want to study.
You have three majors?
Computer science will, well, you
know, be like a minor or something.
I like computers.
Wrong. Do you like Bill Gates?
Uh, he's good. Yeah.
Are you smarter than him?
Nope, uh, no.
Are you going to be richer than
him?
at.
410
Yes
80%
If you felt mentally out of balance, would you consider
going to university psychological services?
Uh, I don't know. No. Probably not?
What was the first question I
asked you?
Um, what's my name?
By Katie Steen
No
16%
No.
Fail. Do you find me crazy?
Yes, a little.
Do you think this is a strange
process?
C minus. Have a nice day.
w:.NA
Cool, you're probably better at
-Sam is an LSA freshman.
Yes
84%
Online comments
"The staff at Counseling & Psychological Services would like to make
a strong statement of support for the personal statement written by Ms.
Kaitlin Williams on Sep. 3, 2012, ' struggle with mental illness.' In fact, we'd
like to say more than 'support.' We would like to acknowledge the strength
and the courage it takes to speak and to write on the difficult topic of what
it is like to live with mental illness as a student at Michigan. Through this act
of strength and courage, and the experience it represents, along with count-
less other stories of Michigan students' challenges and successes with men-
tal health, we change the world when we speak to counteract the silence."
-Todd D. Sevig, director of CAPS
"Hang in there Kaitlin. Whatever the diagnosis, itcan be managed with
meds and time spent consulting with professionals who can guide you
to a greater understanding of yourself. Your chosen life endeavor will be
enhanced. You will bring to it the experience of suffering which has allowed
you to learn and grow and become a much wiser person."
-Caroline Smith
Join
O~~be Mdian i
Come to one of our mass meetings A
sWednesday, Sept.12
'Thursday, Sept.13
oWednesday, Sept. 19 c
'Sunday Sept. 23
All meetings at 7:30 p.m. 420 Maynard St.
acebook has claimed a significant tained, I decided to try it myself. I tried to
amount of time in our lives. I can't even completely cut myself off from the social
write an article without compulsively media website.
typing in "f-a-c" into the - I never actually succeeded.
Sigur Rds has a new music video! I guess I failed to acknowledge the social
But I know I'm not the only one who expe- context surrounding what I was doing. The
riences such a half-conscious draw to the fact of the matter was that I was pretty bored
website. this summer. I lived at home, so deleting
During class on their laptops, waiting at the Facebook felt like cutting the social tether of
bus stop on their i-whatevers, at their office an astronaut idling in suburban empti -.
computers while pretending to look busy, Whose dog is that? Mine's cuter.
people can't seem to keep their eyes off their I cheated at my first few Facebook-free
newsfeeds. It's disruptive and usually irrel- attempts, but only accidentally. Checking
evant, but it's a widespread go-to distraction. Facebook, I realized, was rarely done con-
But there are those rare individuals who sciously, a rest stop between websites versus
shun the use of the social media website. an actual destination.
Nick Nuechterlein, a currently Facebook-less But I decided upon a compromise. If I
LSA junior, became disillusioned with Face- couldn't bear to not check Facebook, I would
book during his first tour of the University. only log on for utilitarian (in the loosest
"Our guide opened the doors above 1800 sense of the word) purposes. I would use the
Chem during a lecture," he said. "And there, site for what it was supposedly intended for
to my amazement, was an auditorium room in the first place - staying connected with
full of people checking Facebook. It was ter- the people I cared about. I would resist the
rifically disappointing ... And, rightly or not, Newsfeed at all cos -
I get a little satisfaction out of thinking I'm WhydidmyGermanfriendjustposta44-min-
not a part of that anymore." ute too-hip-for-anyone experimental track??
With the loss of their online "friends,"
those without Facebook have managed to Plugged out, plugged in
discover more of their flesh-and-bones, quo-
tation mark-free friends, Nuechterlein said, There's a fear of disconnectedness - not
offering an apt analogy: being able to skim through pictures of your
"(Deleting Facebook) is sort of like grow- cousin's newborn or your friends drinking
ing a neck beard ... You get to find out who out of a boot in Hamburg.
your real friends are." Larry D. Rosen, author of the book "iDis-
LSA senior EmilylButtigieg, who deleted her order," said our society has a wealth of anxi-
Facebook as she studied for the MCAT, agrees. ety about missing out on our peers' activities
"For my more local friends, I found myself in real life and on Facebook.
having more phone conversations, lunch, The generally accepted term for this anxiety
dinner and coffee meetings, which were is FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. This can refer to
more personal," she said. the fear that if you do not attend an event, you
Jealous of the newfound personal rela- risk missing out on having a good time. And a
tionships that these withoutFeeboks d- eltd Facboak automatia elirniaes a
vital method of receiving invitations to experi-
ences other people will inevitably enjoy.
LSA senior Lily Gerasymchuk, who also
deleted her Facebook to prepare for the MCAT,
noted that being Facebook-free sometimes
produced the anxiety associated with FOMO.
"Not having a Facebook also decreased the
numberoffriends that I interacted with,"she
said. "Only my close friends took the time to
contact me through other means."
But there's another form of FOMO, one
that results from receiving too much infor-
mation on what's going on.
All it takes is someone else's photo album
titled "SUMMER 2012 <3" to feel like you've
spent more than enough time scrolling
through the life experiences of acquaintanc-
es, your own timeline becoming static and
pale under the glow of the laptop screen.
"Facebook does make me feel a bit lonely,"
Gerasymchuk said. "While I'm bored over
the summer, I get jealous of people explor-
ing Europe and doing cool things while I'm
just stuck at home."
Great. So when you have a Facebook, you
see what you're missing out on. When you
don't have a Facebook, you imagine what
you're missing out on.
Miss Lonelyhearts
Rosen posits that there's a chance that
Facebook could act as a sort of protective
sealant against the ravages of loneliness.
"If you are lonely or sad, then having more
Facebook friends will make youless lonely most
likely because you have more options of people
to talk to for support and empathy," he said.
I failed to wean myself off of Facebook over
the summer because I was too afraid to cut
myself off from one of today's most valuable
4metl pdofeomnunicationtFriendshipsaver}
the summer become increasingly plugged-in.
For me, Facebook had become a significant
way to not become lonely. Even though my
cell phone was almost always attached to my
hip - and was a perfectly viable option of
contacting me - Facebook was preferred.
Stephen Marche, a Canadian writer who
has written multiple articles on Facebook,
didn't buy Rosen's claims regarding Face-
book's ability to decrease loneliness in his
latest article in The Atlantic.
"We meet fewer people. We gather less.
And when we gather, our bonds are less
meaningful and less easy," Marche wrote.
The only thing that can decrease loneli-
ness, Marche said in an interview, is face-to-
face contact with your fellow human beings.
"Watch this baby goat do parkour!" NO.
I've come to terms with the fact that I
don't need Facebook to stay up to date with a
people, music or baby animals. If I want to
know what's going on in the world, I deliber-
ately seek out the information rather than let
it flow in from the algorithm-driven endless
scroll of the newsfeed. Facebook can intro-
duce you to something you would have never
otherwise Googled, but then again, so can
walking out the front door.
But how much has Facebook been wired
into my brain? There's a sinister meaning
embedded in my compulsion to check the
social media website: Despite my better
judgment, I really do need Facebook. Know-
ing that FOMO is experienced on some level
whether one has a Facebook or not somehow
makes me feel better about th -
Lol they're drinkingpastel margaritas what
classy gals, brings me back to high school, hey
German dude's on chat, whaddup saw ur vid,
wtf wuz that str8 up cray, what's happening in
Deutschland, oh wait check out this dog mine's
cate;i know't gait where did ugo 10.A