So, I have been kindly invited by a few friends to join Facebook. This has been interesting. Most of my work on the Facebook page I have created has been accomplished while nursing an upset stomach. I wonder if I'll go back and look at it later and be horrified at what I posted when I was too ill to know better? I also wonder if there is a selection bias towards geekiness (geek is sexy!) in the sub-group of friends who are using Facebook? Coming from me, this is a compliment, so please remember that before bristling, o dear ones. For example, one friend of mine appears (judging by his friends list, which is one female) to have joined just to be friends with one chyck. Probably a strategically wise move. And then there is one guy, whom we shall call KON, for King of Networking. He has a ridiculous number of friends. Next we see GooberJock, who is one of my favorite people ever. He immediately sent me six widget requests of some sort or another, involving alcohol, hotness, and werewolves. I called him and asked why he had so much time to be dorking around on Facebook.
I'm starting to feel a bit like the cyberworld of Ender's Game is upon us. Not the war part, but the part where his siblings are writing stuff on the net, or whatever they call it. Hey, maybe that would be a good book for bookclub. Nothing to get political about in there, right? ha ha. Anyway, it feels like there is a whole universe in there, which of course only exists in a couple of really huge servers in Virginia? No, that can't be right. I have a lot of resistance towards learning how the internet actually works - because it sounds terrifically boring to me - but it seems important, like knowing how to change a tire. Maybe a responsible adult should know the rudimentary workings of the internet. Although unlike the tire, I am not going to be called upon to fix it ever. But it seems like I ought to know how it works, like I know how the electoral college works, or where the food I eat comes from - you know, Jeffersonian Citizen sort of thing. Come to think of it maybe I should look that up... But I'm a little afraid, like if I learn too much I'll get sucked into it a la Tron, and be forced to wear glowing spandex and throw frisbees to save my life, neither of which I would want to be called upon to do under even less dire circumstances.
Interestingly, I used to have a similar level of resistance towards learning how the stock market works... Hopefully this doesn't mean we'll find me making my living at something to do with the Internet in ten years.
So, I better go find something to eat that won't worsen my tummy.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
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1 comment:
Hope your tummy feels better!
I do some reading on social networking services, and these articles might interest you if you are thinking about who is on Facebook and why people are in one network vs. another:
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2558/race-class-and-the-choice-of-social-networking-site
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204203573
http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html
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