The wonderful world of electronics has advanced to the point where communication could soon be relegated to sign language – if we’re not already there! For sure, the concept of social networking is far superior than going to a bar and trying to meet people, but I think that still goes on, in that all you’re doing is sitting there texting. What few observations that I have of the current generation manipulating these various devices is often hilarious, however, I’m absolutely astounded at their tactile dexterity.
Sometimes I go up to a total stranger and ask some dumb question – just to screw up their texting or whatever it is they’re doing on their little social network devices. Most the time, I just get a blank stare. Very rarely do I get any kind of a verbal answer, and a majority of the time that is usually monosyllabic. I usually apologize by saying “I’m sorry, but I thought you were somebody else.” The potential problem here is if you were to ask them what time it is, they will either say “what?” or suggest that you look up that question on one of the networks, which of course, will give you the location of the most rudimentary instructions on how to build a clock.
It would seem to me that the last thing someone might want to do is sit and talk to a computer, addressing some unknown person in the never-never land of the Internet. I recently got an e-mail from one of these networking sites which said I had four friends that wanted to contact me. I knew right away this was just so much B.S., because I haven’t got four friends. Well, not that can write, anyway. It’s also like this on another site called Classmates, which say some of them are trying to find me. The only reason they’re trying to find me is more than likely that I owe them money. What’s the compounded annual rate on 10 bucks over 40 years? It’s a bunch of money, and I don’t want to know anyway.
Social networking and things like Zinga, Linked-in and Facebook, which I call “Dunga and Butt Book” to me are extremely frightening. I was very tempted to sign up, put a picture of Tom Selleck on my site and see what the hell happened. But, frankly the more I thought about it, the more I figured I would get close to 16 million inquiries. It didn’t make any sense to me unless I could convince each one of them to send me a dollar. As a second thought, I dug up the picture of Harpo Marx, thinking I would use that with the understanding that anybody who contacted me would have one hell of a sense of humor.
I do understand, however, that LinkedIn has some redeeming values relating really to professional networking. “Hey! You know where I get a job?” The others all seem to be very a successful marketing ploy to sell you something you wouldn’t think buying if you weren’t sitting there screwing around with your computer. Gee-whiz! There might be some money in this business and maybe if we were talented enough, we could take it public and make a gazillion dollars! Does that sound familiar? Yeah, and you could also hit the wall at Mach 2.
The rest of the concept, although intriguing, seems to me to be somewhat dangerous and clearly personally intrusive. I worry about what these various sites are doing with all the data that they’re collecting, and how much more potential junk e-mail we might expect to see. If you can’t talk to somebody other than texting or tweeting, then I guess this is your last resort. If you try talking, you may find a rewarding situation – far more rewarding than the social networking that you could ever possibly achieve using these impersonal electronic devices. Some people are naïve enough to think that the whole world out there thinks the same way that they do. Believe me – during my short tenure on this earth and exposure to people, you never know what the hell is in the back of their mind.
My attitude then and continues to be 90% positive, until you show me that 10% negative. Unfortunately, sometimes that occurs too late to remedy. So the concept of social networking, albeit intriguing has to be done with a thorough understanding that there are certain intrinsic dangers. It’s not clear to me that this current fad will last much longer than the CB radio (“Breaker Breaker – Rocker Babe! – watts-cher 20?”), nor will it be around in the next two or three years with its current popularity, but there is no question we will have opened up social mores which will exist with or without electronic social networking. Moderation and caution are the key elements of utilizing what is an extremely positive advance in social communication and understanding. The ability to instantly communicate has prospects of forestalling international misunderstandings, but at same time can be used, such as by terrorists, to create unconditional havoc on a worldwide basis. My attitude is that with the good of any new invention or situation, there is always the bad that must be dealt with and resolved.
The moral of the story – Keep your eyes open, your hand on your wallet or purse, your mouth shut, and try not to run into a fire hydrant or a telephone pole while you’re networking.
J.J. Addingnuttin 