(Un)Social Network
I’m sitting here on my laptop wishing the novocaine would wear off my gums/cheek so I can safely eat lunch… or, better yet, that I could somehow magically transfer the sensation to my separated shoulder. Yeah, that would be nice. Anyway, I recently returned from a ski trip to Park City and accumulated a fair amount of material for my blog but have been a bit hindered in my “input abilities” — having suffered a level 3 AC separation on my right shoulder (I’m right-handed) — but have finally figured out something that works and thought I’d share some observations.
The guys I went skiing with are, by and large, not in the technology industry in any fashion and so it is always interesting to me to run things by them and get their thoughts as “lay people”. Once such conversation revolved around social networks and which of us had Facebook profiles. While I was amazed that most of the guys had never heard of Facebook, I had to remind myself that my profession puts in at the tip of the innovation sword and that there is ALWAYS a lag effect as to when the general population embraces some new technological wonder (if at all). At one point, one of the guys simply asked a question that will stick with me for quite awhile: “I don’t get all this social network stuff…what happened to picking up a phone and simply calling your friends to get together in person?”. An excellent question if you stop to think about it. Here’s why. My immediate reaction was to tell him that social networks are about “discovery” and meeting new friends…but then I started thinking about it. Here I was in Utah with a bunch of guys I only get to see about once a year due to mutual time-constraints talking about meeting new friends. What the hell??? I barely have time for the friends I already have let alone making new ones… I’m beginning to wonder what the point of social networks really are other than yet another online diversion to occupy increasingly precious time. Anyone feel the same these days?
Date posted: Thursday, February 14th, 2008 12:08 pm | Under category: Social Networks
RSS 2.0 | Comment | Trackback
It’s all about ego; online social networking sites make you feel like you’re popular and everyone loves you, even if they really don’t. (”Hey, look at all these people who care what I’m eating today for lunch! Hey, people really like me to care enough me to put a scribble on my wall!”). Plus they’re good for stalking and sucking up to venture capitalists
Thinking that you have to be in the same physical space with another person to enjoy a conversation is like thinking you *need* to be in the office in order to check email. Its just old school thinking.
Actually, I’m speaking strictly in terms of time allocation and what activities one can choose to participate in any given hour. Personally, I have very few free hours on any given day and I choose to spend them with my friends in person rather than virtually.
I’m wondering why a good looking man and seemingly quite smart and successful as well….. is blogging about social networking on.. Valentines night??? That’s worth some philosophical exploration… At the risk of this sounding like a come on.. and it is not.. !!…. what is the proper approach to arranging a meeting with you? Business meeting …?..!
Truth is, it’s easier to pretend you have hundreds of “friends” via Facebook or MySpace or whatever then to deal with the reality of having real life friends.
And I feel like most of the plethora of options available online are time-wasters…
But one thing that’s nice about Facebook is being able to reconnect with people with whom I haven’t been in touch for years. Though I can’t recreate the environment in which we were once friends, I can at least reconnect and spend a few minutes remembering.
For example, I remember a kid who was one of my best friends in elementary school. Then, before we even made it to middle school, he moved away one summer and we never saw him again. But thanks to the wonder that is the internet, I was able to find him again…