I have given a lot of thought to the question I posed concerning Social Networking, and have decided that they are, in fact necessary, though perhaps a necessary evil. It seems that people spend more time socializing on the Internet that they do interacting with "real people". On second thought, maybe they ARE better off!!!
That is true of me as well. I moved to the Vancouver area, and decided to live in an area called Richmond. just across the Fraser River from Vancouver. I am pretty much surrounded by Chinese, both recent immigrants and long tme residents. There are so many Chinese in Richmond, in fact, that it is possible to live and work here with a minimum of English. Now, believe it not, I am not going in to a rant about immigration, government etc. My poimt is, that I have no friends here, and if it wasn't for social networking and email, along with the occasional phone call, I would be completely isolated socially. Even then, besides my blog, the only other site I use is Twitter. I did use Facebook, but got tired of listening to the mundane in others lives and, basically, got very tired of it. Socializing at its worst!!
Twitter, however, is a different bird (sorry couldn't resist.). You are always dropping in in the middle of something. People use Twitter in various ways, and enjoy it very much. The problem I find, though, is that is not very social in terms of communication. It is hard to even get a conversation started, or to have feedback on your posts. It seems at times that, in spite of the thousands of people on line with Twitter, that everyone is talking and no one is listening. TWITTER NEEDS MORE CONVERSATION, AND LESS PROCLAMATION!! Most people seem to be happy with this, so I don't know the solution. I do, however, enjoy Twitter.In the early web, years ago, we had what were called Chat Rooms. Maybe we need something like that again, only on a larger scale. I wish I could think of a way of doing it-I might be the next Internet Millionaire!! Yeah right!! I can't even win a dollar on a six dollar lottery ticket!!
Ye Olde Munner
Hi Gary,
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Some of us have used the Internet for a long time because while there may be plenty of people physically located where we live their interests are not our interests. People like me have friends all over the world because that is where they happen to be. There usuablly aren't any folks like us near us.
I think you'll really enjoy BloggerLuv. One of the things John wants it to be is a fun place to hang out and socialize. While I don't usually do that much even I may be less business and more "fun" there.
Thank you so much for the comment and the welcome. Having been an English and History educator all my life, I have done a lot of writing, but it is much more difficult to express one's feelings and opinions on a Blog than I had anticipated. You can't say I have avoided being controversial at least!
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