Swedish self-proclaimed "magazine" cum TV programme "Efter tio" had a panel of three people there today: Viggo Cavling, Elisabeth Höglund and Cimon Lundberg, all bloggers, all saying nothing, really.

They discussed The Internet as though Facebook is the Alpha and the Omega. I understand that they have limited time to discuss every social network there is, but the discrepancy between what some of them thought they knew to be and fact was dumbfounding, especially from Elisabet Höglund's perspective. I'm not sure if that's because of ignorantness or incompetence.

Höglund works as a journalist, and has done so for 40 years. She claims to have registered with Facebook two months ago, and says it barely gives her anything, professionally speaking. ((Considering that she writes chronicles for one of the two pap tabloids in Sweden, it does amount to something; what, though, is an entirely different matter.))

Cimon Lundberg said very little amid all the empty words spewed by others. "I use it [i.e. social networks] to convey a feeling." "If I want to go have a coffee with friends, I just phone one of them up." "I don't write about friends or family on Facebook." Fair enough, but quite uninteresting.

Viggo Cavling acted as though he was hyperactive on caffeine, twaddling on and on about "connecting" and how funny Lundberg's hat was, how his watch was very nice, the best thing about him, in fact, and how he'd read Elisabet's chronicles to get her gist and oh yes the internetisverymuchwhatyoumakeit.

During his filibustering, he did actually say something interesting at the end. ((Which I don't entirely accredit him for, considering for how long he caterwauled; an infinite number of monkeys with a typewriter each will, eventually, type up "Macbeth".))

Social networks become what you make them to be.

You can be retarded on them, you can convey exactly what you feel, you can use Facebook in a way so that your colleagues only see a certain kind of post/photo album/status updates, you can use different blogs, you can be anonymous, you can...do anything. Really. An explosion and emulsion of yourself and one/several of your personae.

If only one could cut egos from these types of discussions, life would improve.