I never thought I would say this. I mean, I built my own sites, since, well the beginning of the internet basically. Online communication is what I do. But still, some digital inventions would have been better off, if they’d had died on the designer table. Especially if they make me feel digitally clumsy. Who for instance, thought a wave button on Facebook would be a good idea?
It’s somewhere hidden in the lower right corner of my screen if FB is open. I can’t see it. I didn’t even know it was there. But I somehow am waving to people, I didn’t know I wanted to connect with at that particular moment. Some are good waves! The one who sent me back some hearts, for instance. I felt instantly loved. But other waves are embarrassing. A guy I hadn’t talked to in years, started talking to me. Out of nowhere, as I thought. Until I noticed that I had waved at him the day before. Me. I instigated that conversation that soon ended as awkward as a virtual conversation can be silently awkward. Who knows how many people I waved at. Unwittingly. People who didn’t start a conversation, but just thought, what a nutter. Apparently I’m not the only one:
So,I full heartedly agree with Brian Thomas:
Please, please, Facebook. If you don’t want to delete the button, could you at least give us the chance to turn it off? It would save me from digital clumsiness.