Swimming with the flow?
Maybe ...
Becoming inconsequent?
A bit ...
Getting to use stuff only when I see a need for it?
Definitely!
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Okay, that last one might save my butt here :-) ...
To get you on track: I'm referring to my, among close friends, well known reluctance of jumping on every new train — gadget wise.
And to be even more specific:
I'm talking about those kind of weird forms of presenting yourself to the world by online tools ... Yes, like this blog here, for instance. But the blog thingy is kinda to my liking, as I can ramble on basically without limits, and also add up optical and acoustical stuff even — meaning I can, within certain limits, be creative.
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Yet:
How creative can you be, if you only have 140 characters at your disposal, spaces included? That's less than a regular SMS, for crying out loud!
And to what avail do you hurl yourself onto a Vanity Fair where you "know" hundreds or even thousands of people, send virtual bumper stickers (... what the ... ?) and play games like "Which country would you be"?
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The analytical minds among you out there, my dear zero blog readers (or at least frighteningly close to zero), have realized now what I am talking about:
Twitter, and Facebook
And, to make a long story short
(... ha ha — me? Am I SICK??)
(shush!)
... to make a long story short:
Anyone who said those sentences to me in the past, would always get the reply "Get well!" — a heartfelt wish, that those illness-like sounding retributions would soon be gone again. But obviously, this wish is never strong enough to rid my stricken friends from their maladies ...
... and more than this: I realize, smitten with remorse, that I got infected myself.
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So yes, I do have a Twitter account. I established that, because some of my subscriptions and friends on YouTube all of a sudden started to get the hots for this weird tool, seeing it as the next jump in the history of human evolution, obviously, and were all yelling:
"Follow me on Twitter! Stalk me on Twitter!"
... it sounded like willingly triggering and feeding a persecution complex.
And I quickly realized that not only were those friends really active on YouTube, but also always found time (in between takes of a video shoot, etc.) to grab their iPhone or computer keyboard, and let the world know that life basically consists of so many trivialities, that it would be a shame not to communicate them ... obviously.
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I got sick and tired in no time, really following all those people — well, but not, mind you, because they were writing rubbish. No no - there was really funny stuff to be read at times, or even some serious thoughts (consisting of 140 characters maximum, spaces included).
But: Those entries were LEGION!
I follow people who tweet several times a day, and I also follow people who, vice versa, kinda live between tweets several times a day, for a few minutes ... obviously!
As I said: Interesting / entertaining / at least not hurting to read, but wayyyy too many.
So I made it a habit to maybe check into this vividly chirping Aviary of Mini News once or twice a week, not more. And I basically almost never posted something myself — what on Earth should I begin with only 140 characters (spaces included)?! A reply to an entry of one of those who I followed, who I stalked, was the limit.
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Yet, during the last two weeks or so, things have changed a bit — mainly due to a contact that has developed via YouTube:
As the makers of the Australian short movie
RONAN'S ESCAPE do have
a Twitter account as well as
a Facebook site, I started to become a more frequent visitor of both locations, and I can even be seen posting myself now once in a while, and not only replying.
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Well, and what exactly is the deal with Facebook? Gee, I'm still not sure.
It is no Blog website. It is no personal Homepage. It's no Twitter.
Somehow, it is a bit of all of those, and also weird things more, like sending virtual bumper stickers and virtual gifts, and playing strange games, and taking obscure tests, and telling all your friends about it.
Oh, and you can become fans of people, celebrities I mean, who you already are a fan of, maybe — but "only" in real life. And that doesn't count. Not really, in the world of Facebook ... obviously.
You got to get these fancies out in the open, by posting them online, and having them shown in your profile.
Speaking of which:
Every single activity you make on Facebook is noted and archived there — whether you became friends with someone, or which link you checked out, whether you said "likes" to a posting or commented on it ... etc. etc.
Let me be frank: It's at least kinda weird. Because, you know ...
On the one hand, everyone freaks out on a daily basis
• about not being able to surf anonymously on the Web any more
• about becoming the transparent human being, an open book of sorts
• about being monitored and controlled all the time
• about "Big Brother is watching you" (quoting George Orwell's novel 1984 - not the TV show ...)
And on the other hand, on Facebook, you make yourself all of that - by your activities there, due to each and every click you make.
It is ... well, as I said before: Kind of weird :-)!
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I first used Facebook only for posting some news from news websites I found, mostly on the topic of school bullying and suicides of kids (who could not cope with being bullied any more), as this topic is very important and sensitive to me.
The "Share with Facebook" button was a good thing for passing on those messages ... passing them on to all the people on Facebook who, funnily enough, did NOT know I existed there, and therefore NEVER read any of those postings :-)!
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Okay, okay - I want to be fair, so let me mention something still, before I come to a close with this blog entry here ...
There are a few really good friends now, too (on Twitter, and on Facebook), who I knew already before ... who came there and enrich my life on these Social Networking Sites. I admit that. And it is a pleasure having them there.
They make the whole thing more interesting.
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Well, I'll see what happens, and how things there proceed and develop with me.
I'll make a tweet about my experiences :-)!
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