Play it again, Sam

Play it again, Sam

 

 

Facebook symphony

stranded friends with violin faces

 

like notes, like notes, like notes

percussion unfriends

 

the beat of life now

friend, like, delete

 

Facebook symphony

gets standing ovation

 

as we rise to leave the computer

to reboot,

 

wishing we could reboot our lives

to simplicity

and return to a time

when we could actually see and hear

those violin faces

 

string us along

live

rather than in our little YouTube 

 

auditorium

with a seating capacity of one

and really bad acoustics.

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

10/7/19

Reviews

[gram linski]

haha , thought this was great, totally agree with the sentiment, although I did view it via my computer, ironically enough,

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and i wrote it on mine...:))))
thank you, gram,
j.

[Dave Brown]

Yes, except perhaps for the dating sites, cell phones and computers are nudging aside up close and personal

[jacob erin-cilberto]

or up almost close but not so personal...thank you for your words, Dave,
j.

[Dave Brown]

Oh yes, quite true

[Pryde Foltz]

Superb metaphoric work, Jacon. Loved the violin faces imagery. Genius:)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Pryde,
j.

[John the Baptist]

This one is darkly humorous and funny simultaneously. The Facebook phenomenon is notorious for both connecting and isolating people, and sometimes making them vulnerable to sinister individuals. In the current "cancel culture" one can become a worldwide pariah for one poorly worded post. I think the next step will be when religion defines damnation as being unfriended by God.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i agree with all you said, John...sure do....and thanks for your words,
j.

[R.E. Ray]

J., what you've captured here is the tragedy of social media's one-dimensional kingdom, a flat screen that we can manipulate with silent finger strokes (on, off, add, delete, etc.) with little to no consequence. Facebook seems the refuge for many who need validation, or the pathetic pity from that "violin." And, I fear the changes I've seen in the succeeding generations, specifically less capacity (or interest) in engaging face to face, heartily exchanging ideas, and building deep, enduring relationships. "Play again, Sam" might become "Play again, Mark" in Zuckerberg's generation.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your insightful review, R.E.
j.

[Ted Kniffen]

Yes, that little YouTube auditorium for one. I once read that air travel has actually turned Africa into an even darker continent because it is no longer necessary to actually travel through it.
Facebook has become the air travel of society and we are all poorer for it.
Better to sit down face to face and share a glass of wine and a laugh or a tear than to sit staring at a screen thinking your connecting with all your "friends".
Personally I try not to use Facebook or any of that ilk if at all possible.
Not sure I would think this is a diatribe ... more a sad statement of the times.

Well said, j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Ted...I just can't stand what Facebook and other sites have done to us...When I was in college, way back...we were face to face with each other, in the classroom etc. and there was movement because of that.
thank you,
j.

[Lorry]

There's nothing like seeing them play live Jacob, like those heady, youthful days of yore, where blossoming love could be decapitated if you missed your appointed meeting time and had no way on earth of knowing where they would be to go and grovel forgiveness to them.
Now we have the mask of interconnectedness and it seems those youthful days were in the dark ages.
Call me old fashioned, but a tweet, text or like could never compete with a hastily passed note during double math.
Days that were not recorded for posterity, but still so unforgettable.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

ah yes, those notes passed in class...those were the days....thank you, Lorry,
j.

[andrew mitchell]

A lot of truth here J. As much as technology brings us all closer there is still that void, that emptiness that can only be fulfilled by seeing and touching like a handshake , a hug, seeing a face light up, hearing a laugh in person.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i agree totally, andrew....thank you for your words,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Ingrid Bergman and Bogarde. The electricity certainly sizzled in their face to face romance. Love those old movies. What can you say about Facebook, that hasn't already been said. These people in the main are contacts, it is difficult to build up true friendships on social media. It can happen, but I would say rarely. Social media has a place, but it can't replace a true friend. Having said that, the youngsters would call me old fashioned. That's how they do it these days. Most of them have hundreds if not thousands of these contacts. I just remembered my German penfriend who wrote to me regularly when I was a teenager. She would send me lovely photographs and write beautiful letters. I actually did feel I knew her well and I am sure if we had met in person, we would have got on. Nothing like face to face contact and hearing someone's voice.Love the metaphors you have used here Jacob.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind and insightful review, Chris...nothing like face to face...for sure,
j.

[Lydia Shutter]

I think the advent of the internet ruined face to face conversation. People think they have friends on Facebook and other sites, but are they truly friends or simply busy bodies wanting to be the voyeurs of their lives? The things people post publicly never cease to amaze me. No one really knows who sits behind the computer screen. Good one, Jacob. Lydi**

[jacob erin-cilberto]

so true, Lydi...one never knows who sits there...and friends us.
thank you,
j.