Virgin Words

I was intrigued by a Virgin ad today. Virgin Mobile, that is.
It read, "It didn't happen if it's not on Facebook." And it's true. It seems as though right now we, at least here in the good ol' North American region, validate ourselves through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, IM. If something in our lives isn't online, it may as well not exist. The internet has become the new pyramids. I touch on this issue a lot, the influence of technology in our lives, but it just has such ringing truth. And it's a truth that has come to be sardonically and readily acknowledged.
Friends of mine became a couple a few months back. I am ashamed to admit that after they delivered the news I asked quickly, "Is it Facebook-official yet?". Essentially this means, "Yes, but have you told the world? Your world? The online community?" Without this so-called community's acknowledgement, it is as though a relationship, even one that I witnessed (unfortunately and fortunately) first-hand, was not "reality" until it was cyber. A bunch of ones and zeros floating around in the vortex of reality. A black space of megapixels that life seemingly takes place in.
"Surrogates" is a new movie (coming to theatres this Fall) that is based on the notion that humans will one day live through robot counter parts, simply laying in a bed, plugging in one's mind, and letting the machine go out and live your life. Which is kind of like a live-action Facebook when you think about it. Facebook is our therapist - we take quizzes to see who/what we are. Facebook is our social life - our friends connect with us on it. Facebook is our fun - it has games galore, right?
It would be ridiculous to think that we could simply give up on life and live it plugged in. And yet, a very large part of me tells me that's already in the works. It may have already happened when we weren't looking. Well, when we were looking at our screens.
This whole rant, though, is entirely hypocritical. I blog instead of raising a voice. The String is my soap-box, and I stand on it proudly.
However, I'm coming to believe that for all our "advancements" we're missing out on something. The bigger picture perhaps. After all, it is hard to see the 'big picture' when we're all focused on such little screens.