I am creating this blog partly in response to some criticism I've received from my nephew Patrick, who has felt shortchanged that I've treated Facebook as a light social experience, whose function has been to keep contact with friends and relatives, but not as a serious forum for ideas. He has suggested that I do more to establish an identity for myself.
I do post on Twitter, but it is limited to short entries, and is not intuitively interactive.
My blog, therefore, is about my thinking and experiences, created without regard to the opinions of others, who may comment, but should be aware of my biases.
My thinking is frequently biased in three ways.
First, I'm a liberal. This means that I'm open to new ideas, not tied to practices of the past when they are in need of change. This attitude has been shaped by a liberal education and a general belief in the advancement of knowledge.
Secondly, I'm a libertarian. This means that I believe in freedom of thought and expression and am highly suspicious of authoritarianism, whether governmental or religious.
Thirdly, I'm a humanist, which means I believe in reason and man-made solutions to problems and am generally a religious skeptic.
These attitudes have led to some conflict in my life, but I hold them as a matter of choice, and others are free to take different approaches. I just list them here for guidance.
What I didn't really understand was the contrast you had in tone between Twitter and Facebook.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking, I used to think Twitter was limited (I'll come back to that) while Facebook is superficial, cluttered up with dumb ass games and all kinds of petitions and groups that people "like" after seeing for about ten seconds and never revisit.
I have changed my mind on Twitter. Before I couldn't figure it out - I thought, what's the point? Now I like how it forces us to be economical with words when expressing something. Plus I've heard of people who have created narratives and who have thousands of followers.
Facebook serves as a point of contact, because so many have accounts. On the other hand, the variety of interests, ages, outlooks, and educational levels make it hard to post social comments and expect much in return. The groups are disappointing, because so many join, but never contribute; or else members decide to be obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteWith Twitter, you can post all the sarcastic, political, or observational comments you want without fear of offending anyone. You can also follow persons and sites who post interesting and insightful comments.
Social networking is still developing and over time I expect we'll find better and more satisfying ways to use it.
"The groups are disappointing, because so many join, but never contribute; or else members decide to be obnoxious."
ReplyDeleteAre you using Facebook groups to improve your understanding of family genealogy? You seem to have said so in another post. I think social networking on the Internet is useful in efficiently connecting people with similar interests.
Facebook is useful in locating people. I found a fourth cousin (Debi Obermueller) the other day; and a seventh cousin (Michelle Cowsill). I can then contact them personally.
ReplyDeleteI had an interesting exchange with Teresa Igo from Houston (family from Kentucky), an African-American cousin (her ggrandfather Green Igo, b. 1885, probably son of Bernard Igo (white) and a black woman).