I’m Doomed
So my urban ed class tonight was full of presentations on various books/reports on what the heck is wrong with schools and kids these days. I actually have a number of thoughts/rants based on mine that I’ll try to roll out over the next couple of days. Two different classmates discussed a book that complains about how all this technology is making the Millennial generation more insulated, concerned with self-image, and unable to pursue and retain real knowledge. The subtitle of the book was Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30. So in a small act of rebellion I decided to update the Facebook profile that I have mostly left dormant, and so I accepted a few friend requests and made a few of my own. I admit I was a little taken aback by how much information I suddenly had about what was going on on my friends’ sites, so I can tell it’s gonna take a while for this whole social network thing to click with me. And, of course, I am now blogging about social networking, which is all hopelessly recursive and probably still a couple of years out of date. But to hell with it, I’m too wordy for Twitter.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.
Friday, December 5th 2008 at 12:57 am |
I’ve got about two weeks of Facebook experience on you, and yeah, it does throw an awful lot of stuff at you, and a lot of it is the apps they have for gifts and games and whatnot. I’m torn on that; some days I’m up for sending someone a virtual Star Wars figure, some days I’m just not. The same with notifications on what they’re doing with various online games; one day it’s a solid wall of mental clutter, but then every once in a while you see someone’s game status boldly proclaim that they have bought a fish, thereby enabling you to comment “Would you like to buy our extended warranty for your new fish?” and brighten their day (or at least make it more surreal). At this point, about two weeks in, I’ve tweaked my settings for how much notification I send out, and how much I receive, as much as I’m going to, and I’m just learning to parse and process it like I would background conversation in a real setting.
Now, if the argument was that 30+ couldn’t handle Myspace, I’d find it hard arguing with that. I’ve tried Myspace, but it’s so busy and cluttered and ADHD-inducing that I’m down to checking my inbox once a week. Facebook is tame and serene by comparison.