Now what?

Something has been bothering me for a while now....

I've got a Flickr account, a Facebook page, a Meebo account, a Del.icio.us account...I text with my cell-phone, still use my email, am writing a blog, take graduate classes on-line...I am clearly socially networked. So, now what?

There have definitely been advantages to all of this. I don't have to send pictures out to my family and friends anymore; they have all been given the Flickr address and instructions to hook it up to an RSS feed. By now they know to look on the site for photo updates.

Facebook was fun to set up, but after a few games of Scrabulous (I am starting to suspect this is the high point of Facebook) and looking up some interesting librarian groups to join, what do I do with it? Seems to me it's just one more thing I have to check on every day - I don't want to miss saying thank you to a new piece of flair or a gift from a friend! Maybe I've joined the wrong groups, but I was hoping for rousing, thought-provoking conversation, networking across the world, a consortium of ideas. And, even though I'm now a little more involved in the lives of some people I only knew casually, I'm not feeling like it's worth all the hype.

Social networking is leaving me feeling a little anti-social and creepy if you want to know the truth. Am I not being friendly enough? Do I have to introduce myself to people? How do I do that without feeling desperate or like a stalker?

I was hoping by putting so much of myself out there people would find me, or we would find ourselves in the same place, and networking relationships would happen. I feel a little like I've spent a lot of time getting dressed but there's no one at the party. I was expecting more interaction and more sharing to come slightly more effortlessly. (Maybe I should start a new group on Facebook for people who feel like Wallflowers 2.0!)