I consider myself a member of a potentially controversially named "Generation", whether it be Generation Y, or perhaps, in my own opinion, more resting on that cusp between X and Y that has no name and no defined loyalties. The actual demarcation usually arises when the topic of technology is broached. I'm young enough that picking up the newest techie trend and/or gadget is relatively easy (though my learning curve plummeted upon exposure to Microsoft's Vista) but old enough to remember pen pals and real letters. I still remember window-less Internet browsing and the day that viewing pages in HTML was a privilege. I remember when registering for college was a pen-and-paper affair and signing up for classes entailed sitting anxiously by your phone at 11:58 pm, waiting for the midnight hour to strike so you could snatch up the receiver and hit the speed dial button that would hopefully boost you to the beginning of the registration queue.
Nowadays it's taken for granted that young people know how to maneuver increasingly intricate websites and registration processes, not to mention my grad school email password requires ciphering more difficult than any federal one I've been required to create. In the eight short years since my own undergraduate experiences I've been overwhelmed by the technological assumptions placed on young people today.
With the advent of such instantaneous gratification arises a world of social communication and networking... more specifically for today's topic, myspace, facebook, and yes, blogger. Just today I saw two articles related to social networking.
Up until recently, I was never much on the whole networking business, though I do (with chagrin) note that I have profiles, in addition to myspace and facebook, ldslinkup, friendster, blogger (obviously) possibly iLike (I don't even know what it is, really) and a myriad of other sites that all require a hot picture and a list of interests, likes, dislikes, favorite books... it's exhausting to keep up and I resorted to posting this blog address under all of my profiles as a panacea of personal information. I'd never had any reason to keep up to date on any of them, until my friend's wedding a few weeks ago brought me in encounter with old friends with whom I hadn't conversed in years, as well as new faces that, by the end of a torrid night of alcohol (not me), music, dancing (definitely me), and salacious flirting (maybe me), we parted with choruses of "find me on Facebook! I'm on Facebook!" Within hours of my return to DC I found requests flooding my inbox of "friend" connections, to which I dutifully responded and now find myself obsessively checking my account every few hours on the life updates of people to whom I would never communicate otherwise and quite possibly may never see again.
Which leads me to the question: if we're "friends" on Facebook... does that make us actually friends? What IS the point of a social network? My current answer is, "to stalk the whereabouts of people I would never otherwise talk to..." I would say that I now have a list of "friends without benefits"... a category that I never thought would actually be necessary to create. I have a whole list of people who have requested to be my 'friend', whom I see at church every week but never speak to otherwise.
Ironically along the same lines, blogging is very similar. Even as I type this I think, there will be people out there reading this that have never met me, or ones whom I never speak to who can now sleep easier knowing the current life update of another I-never-keep-in-touch-anymore friends and not having to feel compelled to actually communicate. I point no fingers, I fully admit reading blogs of people I've never met and feeling like we're old buddies... quite honestly it was surreal meeting the Thundergod last week, as I have fanatically followed his life dealings since 1999 and it was hard when he pointed out his bike-fall-scab not to exclaim "oh yeah! You fell on such-and-such street when you did this-and-this..." That's weird. It's just weird.
So what are your opinions? If you're reading this then you are, by default, a member of some sort of Internet network, whether you like it or not. What do you think of social networks and public forums? How do you use them and do you think they will benefit in the long run or deteriorate communication into blips of IMs, texting, and wall-to-wall vapidity?
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8 comments:
Hooray for the cuspers!! Was anyone else completely blown away when a younger sibling got a cell phone when they were still in HIGH SCHOOL?! (gasp!)
The first thing I have to do is set aside everything I've learned at work about what the telecom and internet industries have in store for the future. They're all over this e-social network, and they got big plans. Watch out, everyone. They've got your number. Er, IP address.
That being said. I'm jumping on my soapbox. As far as the deterioration of communication, I think we're already there. Technology has made communication ridiculously easy. We've never had so many means of maintaining relationships as we do now - and as a result, relationships have never been taken so lightly. I've been bombarded by friends who have tried to get me on myspace and facebook, because it's so EASY to keep in touch! Um, have we already gotten so lazy that sending an email is HARD? Sorry, but I don't really consider "poking" someone or posting a one-liner on someone's wall to be "keeping in touch." I'd say it's a good place to find people you're looking for, and that's where it should stop.
My family just started a blog so we can keep up with each other. (We're getting pretty spread-out, people are busy, whatever.) To its credit, I am definitely keeping up better on what's happening in the lives of my siblings. But I can't help feeling like I'm sort of cheating.
That is all.
I have been proclaiming the decline of communication for some time now. I believe I have previously ranted in this forum about the deterioration of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and style because of e-communication.
I also think that communication is breaking down beyond the mere fact that people can't spell their way out of a paper bag anymore. For a few years now I've been wanting to make a three-minute film short that features only meaningless exchanges of cliches. "How's it going?" "Some weather we're having." "See ya later!" The film would follow a single protagonist through his day where he has several interactions and conversations, even business meetings, where several words are spoken, but nothing is communicated.
That being said, I do believe that "social networking" sites have their place. I, like Abby, have found that blogging has helped me keep in touch with old friends and people I care about.
On the other hand: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VpcvR1tIBfQ
why are we not facebook friends?
hmmph. ps...i'm hard to find on facebook. so are you. try malorie tiffany meredith amber...it may just work
love spawn
Spawn... thanks for taking the time to find me. Don't ever forget the poo.
Abbynormal and Cabeza, I fully see your points (both pros and cons) and while in L.A. this past week ironically picked up the most recent copy of Newsweek to find the cover story touting this very subject. There were both pros and cons and I supported both views... I suppose I can't argue with certainty that things such as Facebook should be banished; it does make for easier communicating and takes away some of the edge and pressure to be witty/interesting/exciting every time you contact someone. At the same time, as it states in the article, it takes away the appeal of "slowly losing contact with someone you no longer want to be friends with" (paraphrased).
I suppose my one piece of I-think-it's-important advice is, be very careful what you post online anywhere. It's public fodder for the entire world. This includes your mom, your boss, your college professors, and yes, that crush you had in the tenth grade whom you had forgotten existed who now is apparently a Jewish pop star. Sometimes all this online stuff really is fun.
My sister keeps telling me I should join facebook. There's just one teeny problem: I only want to be found by the people to whom I make my whereabouts known. So, they already know how to find me. None of this facebook junk.
Me, I'm just here to stalk you. Abbeynormal sounds (sort of) smart though.
(Kyle)
Kyle! Stalk away. I'm sure you're aware that the only means of communication I had with you was your work email, which is now obviously defunct. Let's play!
I'm with Kyle--I'm just here to stalk you. Though, we do actually know each other in person and at one time did attend many of the same activities. :-D
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