Party Pooper
My dear friend, the Doctor of Chaplin, was on fb offering up Google+ to his friends and I, of course, had to be the only person to stop by and say something negative. Why do I do this?
WHY?
I’ll tell you why.
I’ve long been a late adopter of new social networking toys. I only started playing with Twitter as a means of keeping up with two people. I began texting just last year as a means of communicating during a festival when phone conversation was impossible. Facebook was a means to an end when my dear friend moved far away and gave up blogging. I’m all over Facebook now. I text in my sleep. Twitter…eh, still working on that one.
And then there’s LinkedIn. Been there for a while, but don’t much care for groups on there (I belong to one and it’s a non-starter in my eyes). Foursquare or whatever it is? Nope. GetGlue? Not on your life. All the other stuff I don’t know about? I’m happy not knowing about it.
In fact, I think the more social networks one employs in order to stay “in touch” or “in the know”, the less in touch or in the know one is. It’s simply too much. Too scattered. It’s taking 24hrs a day and spreading them into the thinnest of coatings so that there’s very little “there” there. Kind of why blogging is no longer what it once was — too many people consider myspace and facebook and all these other things “blogging” when, in fact, they aren’t. Like how news is no longer about new information, but rather a reiteration of everything you’ve heard for the past two days in angrier tones and spun to be partisan in one way or another.
The kind Doctor of Chaplin then mentioned something about a consolidator, so that everything is more easily managed. Ahem. Weren’t these networks already supposed to be easily managed? The conversation went a little something like this (okay, so it went EXACTLY like this):
Me: I’ve turned down every invite. Too much networking for my liking. I can barely keep up with the stuff I got
The Doc: I hear you, loud and clear. I’m sure there’ll be some sort of consolidator one of these days
Me: You’d think, but then what’s the point of having everything? it’s like buying a bunch of really cool toys, not being able to play with them all at once, and then using a trash compactor to squish them into a single object. that’s even less enjoyable! signed, parade rainer/pooper unto parties
So, while I’ve previously said never about certain things and then joined in for one reason or another, this is one time I’m pretty confident that you’ll not see me playing along with Google+
Artificial connections to people don’t bring us closer together, don’t make us more informed, more knowledgeable. It just clutters our lives and takes us away from the things that are important. We need far less Internet social networking and far more face-to-face socializing. It’s amazing how much more satisfying that is, too.
I feel the exact same… but want an invite anyway. It’s a sickness…! Nothing to do with staying in touch with people; it’s new and for that reason alone I have to see/touch/hear it.
:(
Comment by pam — 2011/07/08 @ 19:53
Amen, sistah! I totally agree with you.
Comment by DogsDontPurr — 2011/07/08 @ 19:54
While I’ll stipulate to social networking opening certain doors, for the most part, each new sparkly thing is just another distraction from life, if you ask me.
/rant. lol
I can’t help it. I’m really :zombie: about most of the new stuff. I’m stubborn that way.
Comment by DaGoddess — 2011/07/08 @ 19:57
my kidlets are talking about it (that google thing)but i’m still clueless.
Comment by patti — 2011/07/09 @ 04:50
Clueless is good. We have other fish to fry.
Comment by DaGoddess — 2011/07/09 @ 05:02
I’ve been on gmail since it came out, run 3 businesses on it, and have 6 different Google Apps for Domains clients. Can I get an invite? Hellz, no. Have your thousands of friends with invites send one to me.
G+ looks like what I wanted FailBook to be.
Comment by Scott — 2011/07/09 @ 07:27
I’ll go introduce you to the doc and get you hooked up, TFG. It’s the least I can do for you.
Comment by DaGoddess — 2011/07/09 @ 07:35
One social network at a time, as far as I’m concerned. I tried Twitter a couple years ago and never could find a purpose for it, it all seems like one-way communication to me. I like a little interaction here and there, like blogging, rather than random mundane announcements that the rest of the world could care less about (wait, I do that on my blog, too).
Comment by diamond dave — 2011/07/09 @ 16:57
Well, now that Twitter got hacked today, I’m thinking I might be close to done with it. But we’ll see. Again, I started with Twitter to keep up with two people (photographers)…I dunno. We’ll see. lol
Blogging? Dude, my traffic is at an all time low these days. I am pretty much talking to myself.
Comment by DaGoddess — 2011/07/09 @ 17:02
Talking to yourself? Hmmmm… then who am I?
:may:
Comment by pam — 2011/07/10 @ 07:22
you’re my loyalest reader and friend! :hug: :heart:
Comment by DaGoddess — 2011/07/10 @ 07:27
I constantly talk to myself. Online, in my office, in my car, everywhere. I only use fb to keep up with a couple of people that I don’t contact with by other means. And even that seems like too much effort these days. But then, so does everything else…
Comment by Jan — 2011/07/11 @ 09:24
At least when you talk to yourself, you know you’re going to have a conversation with someone sharp.
The other concerning aspect of Google+ (and Twitpics and myspace and other such entities) is the TOS, especially when it comes to photography/art that you post. It gives them unlimited usage and distribution rights. Not a good thing.
Comment by DaGoddess — 2011/07/11 @ 16:33