I don't own an iPod, XBox, or a Blackberry. I avoid Facebook and MySpace. I like technology when it saves time or makes life easier. I try to steer clear when it wastes time or complicates life. I proudly never learned to program a VCR, with its displacement by the DVD vindicating my ignorance. I wear your "atavist" charge as a badge of honor! Despite repeated entreaties that I start a Facebook page, I have stayed away. Matt Labash articulates my aversion to anti-social social networking sites in a must-read Weekly Standard cover story. For my mouthpiece Labash, Facebook is a cyber cesspool of superficiality, exhibitionism, and voyeurism, where "there is the crushing anticlimax of people re-entering your life who might've fallen away into your past, because in each other's past is where you mutually belong."
Kudos, Dan. I don't own a facebook either.
For myself, myspace has one significant use. I can keep in touch, or rather, watch the progress of the members of the high school team I coached, and a select few people I know.
In some ways, technology has made us so very impersonal. We have all seen how technology-which was supposed to save us time-has actually helped rob us of free time. Cell phones invade our privacy, and the home computer has only helped us bring more work home.
Since we do not have time to keep in touch, I can at the very least visit the myspace page of former students and see how they might be doing. I can see my old friends' kids photos to see how they have grown, or get some idea how former proteges are doing in college. Once in a while they need their old coach for advice or just to lean on, I can give them my phone number.
If I used the old-fashioned method of just a ten minute phone call per month to each of those 150 or so students, that would take nearly an hour or so of my time per day.
My space allows them to get in touch and let me be their leaning post once again.
Of course, I would not give you two cents for the phonies and exhibitionism on myspace. But again, it can be a useful tool.
Be well,
Sponge
I like the Italian Bishops' idea of giving up Tech for Lent. Though, the Pope has specifically praised Facebook, it was not without serious reservations. In the end, I don't like the way these sites allow for a weird sort of detachment while actually connected to another human being. Whatever it is, it doesn't feel right.
Sorry but I disagree. I used to be an atavist, but now I am really happy to had gone on to Face-book. It can be dangerous, but so is almost 99% of life. If you are moderate in handling it, it is an excellent tool to keep in touch with both friends and acquaintances, exchange news, ideas and thoughts. Finally it is perfectly within your power how much personal information or how much of your life you put in it.
Hi Dan,
I used to use facebook and found it fun for a while, but it can be a bit of a time waster. Although it did allow me to connect with people I hadn't seen for years.
By comparison I have started using twitter (thesciphishow on twitter if anybody is interested) and really like it and have found it quite useful.
It is the same as email was several years ago. Everyone was worried about etiquette and how they would be perceived via email. Well that blew over and so will this.
For those of you on Facebook with 500 friends either grow a spine or die. You are weak when you can't say no to someone you either have no reloection of or don't care to converse with.
So Dan when you finally succumb and get a page you can join the Bravo Company 4th LAR group and find some people who you might might to talk to or not.
Mike: I would talk to just about any Marine associated with the illustrious Bravo Company of the 4th LAR. Whether they would accept me as a Facebook "friend" is another matter.
Jason: I am interested in your thoughts on Twitter. A good samaritan, evangelizing the religion that is Twitter, recently signed me up for it. I am confused about its relevance to my work. Any ideas?
Hi Dan,
For relevance to your work. At the very least you could post a tweet when you post new entries on your blog (I think there are wordpress plugins to do this automatically if you are using that for the blog) and it is a pretty good way to get feedback from people and spread your ideas around in a viral kind of way.
It is publicity basically. I know I get people turning up at http://sciphijournal.com via Twitter, so it seems to be doing some good ;)
