I’m sorry, life cannot be boiled down to 130 characters!
I write a lot about attention spans. I think about them some but then I go on to the next thing. I wonder a lot about what is happening to us, happening to me, in this lightning fast new-technology-a-minute culture we live in. I’m not even sure that the mediums we’re typing into are going to survive their own normal stretches of life or even sure that we know where our “normal” is anymore.
What’s even scarier is to be one of the susceptible guinea pigs who gladly jumps from one cyber communication forum to the next. And, when my predeliction for short spurts of concentration is challenged, oh boy, are we in for trouble! Using me as a barometer, I say, head for the hills. Give up your little boxes of megabites, pixels and circuitry and start splitting wood, hunting for food and building wood fires. Or at least, start talking to each other.
Well, maybe yes on the talking but not really on the rest.
I’m just ranting this morning (I’m taking it out on you because it’s 5:00 am) because it’s taken me three days to commit to a new blog entry and partly because I’m not sure that blogging will even be here by the time I get my next good idea.
You know I have a love-hate relationship with the social networking phenomenon and I continually question its effect on the longer form online writing vehicles. Isn’t that a hoot? Classifying my blog as a “longer form” anything.
Everything that needs to be said can apparently be said in 130 characters. Did you know that? Wow! Talk about simplifying our lives.
Unfortunately, it’s the grey matter between our ears that’s shrinking. Or perhaps (I haven’t read any studies) we’re growing some new brain mass in the “social networking” cerebral quadrant. Perhaps it’s uncharted territory where true genius thrives.
I doubt it.
What I might really be whining about is, my lack of inspiration. Not my lack of inspiration from life. You can clearly see my advocacy for fun on the wall of my Facebook page (isn’t that pathetic?) Things like the opera, the beach, my pets, friends and a spot of wine have happily blessed this past weekend, but when it comes to blogging, I’m just not feeling it.
I’m also not feeling it because I see how little transference there is from Facebook and Twitter, even Linked-In to my blog. I’ll reiterate from another post that I sincerely believe that we’ve become so self-promotional on these sites that we’re all hanging our shingles out and asking for clicks. Who’s doing the clicking? And, on how many sites? I don’t know about you, but I’m just not willing to live on my computer until maybe it becomes a source of Vitamin D. I know I’m already there too much. So much that my beautiful little Imac (which is asking to be replaced by sprouting lovely rainbow color lines across half of my screen) has now developed magnetic powers to bring me to it at all hours of the night and day.
We’re growing a society of computer zombies. All speaking in 130 characters.
Who am I blaming here? Certainly not my innocent, victim-of-technology self. Ha! In this take-responsibility-for-your-own-life millennium, I know that to be untrue.
I jest.
All for the love of writer’s block.
I won’t be one of those people who’ll ever take a formulaic path in life and that goes for my computer habits as well. I’m not willing to do the “x” amount of this or the “y” amount of that to build social networks, to amass the world’s greatest email bounty, or to twitter away my life.
I just won’t.
The price I pay for this is that my lack of computer drive (like that?) will likely keep me in the non-billionaire tax bracket. That’s ok. We all know that when you’ve got nothing you’ve got nothing to lose. (Ok, this is getting a wee too dramatic, even for me)
What I will say is, dear friends, and I don’t mean the Facebook kind, my blogging future will definitely be more possible and certainly richer with your feedback. Your comments, your own creative posts, your interaction with me here. Remember, the “salon atmosphere” I’m going for here? Lately, it’s not so salon-y.
Indulge me in my Gertrude Stein, Paris fantasies of the 20′s. It’ll be so much better if you do.
Now you see, I’m putting it on you. Spreading the “blogger’s block” around democratically. I’ll take responsibility for getting it here, but you’re clearly needed.
Ah, community.
I feel so much better now.
Here’s hoping you’re attention spans are intact, maybe even growing a little. Thanks for listening and happy Monday!
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I can understand your rant. I hope that you are feeling better now.
My personal idea of all the social networks, like facebook, linkedin & twitter are that you can meet a lot of very interesting people that you wouldn’t have other wise.
I know I have. Some these people, it just stays on the social networks. Others, it evolved through to private messages, then emails & maybe to phone calls. People all over the world whom I would’ve never “met” if not for the
internet & social networking.
For now, I love it.
Kathy
How true this is!!2-3 hours on conputer networking can pass so quickly and what have you achieved? You were lost in ciber before, and you are lost again.
Or texing instead of calling. If you are by the phone you might as well dial the number….it’s the same time as typing!!!
So my humble conclusion is: I am giving up most of it and just staying in touch with my closest and dearests the old way; phone calls..lunch…dinner… the old days were not so bad!
I, like you, thought/think??? it is a waste of time. The other day I once again signed on to do what ‘my boss’ (my internet expert) told me to do. As I was sitting there trying to think of something profound that could be said in 143 characters, I looked at the same names on tweets from the same people I see on there everyday and thought, “Don’t these people have a life?”
I think, it is our age. (But, of course, I cant speak for you.) I think it is my age. I want to look you in the eye and talk to you. I want to be able to know I will EVER look you in the eye and talk to you.
Hi Kimmie, In my already always sooooooo busy life, when I am feeling whelmed over by endless e-mails and in an “I don’t wanna” mood about Facebook et al, along comes your really poignantly funny assessment of our world gone mad, gone to sound bites everyone. I agree we are all out there jumping up and down (at least metaphorically) on our keyboard (which does not seem particularly good exercise and is a definitive source of Vitamin D deprivation)wanting to be noticed and clicked on (hmmmmm – once upon a time it was about being whistled at… my my how the world has changed). Everyone wanting to attract everyone else with no one actually TALKING… as in real dialogue together. I think that is why I love teaching the Art of Convening – about slowing down to the pace of life and being present to one another.
Here I am being present to your request and typing all this when I could simply pick up the phone and talk with you which would be far more connective and delightful. Soooo, how about a Saturday beach day or something… soon? If we can get our noses out of the computer long enough to make it happen.
And by the way, although I suggest that you get some sleep instead of blogging at 5 a.m., you really are rather funny in a grumbly kind of way in the wee small hours.
just when i was trying to figure out that linked-in thing this morning, you go and write this!!! J/K