 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
     |
 |
41°
Foggy | 14MPH
NEWSROOM * CIRCULATION * ADVERTISING
Friday
March 2010
12
Community Blogs
I'm a mom of a 15-year-old daughter and a very energetic golden retriever. I lean to the right, but I don't plan on making this blog about politics unless issues demand. I do plan on discussing those things that life throws at us, from the trivial to the troubling. My goal is also to keep things relevant by keeping them local, but like the politics thing, I may draw outside of those lines from time to time. I enjoy people and their stories, because we all have one, and look forward to sharing and hearing about more.
Not now, mommy's on FaceBook
Many posts back, I swore I wasn't interested in social networking. I resisted invites to LinkedIn, and eventually relented because it was a good step in getting my resume out there. Being unemployed, I figured it couldn't hurt, and I swear I'm trying to keep up.
However, my daughter asked if she could join facebook, and explained that through her cousin's account, she found many of our relatives - adults and students alike. Wouldn't it be a great way to connect?
OK. Sure. Then she showed me how to join. That was back in late summer.
Now I feel like I have made that important step, similar to learning a language where translation falls by the wayside and hearing is understanding. I now automatically can relate real-time situations to what my FB nation would think. I am slightly disappointed when I am 'scooped' by someone else in posting a funny youtube video or commercial.
I have even taken a camera to events with the sole purpose of posting it to my photos page. What have I become?
To top it off, a report released recently has pointed to social networking and internet usage increasing feelings of isolation and depression.
However, I did a little research of my own - on the internet no less - and found the basis for the study out of UC Berkley (strike one) was Emile Durkheim, a sociologist who lived from 1858 to 1917. His conclusion then of our need to relate to something outside of ourselves: "If we have no other object than ourselves we cannot avoid the thought that our efforts will finally end in nothingness, since we ourselves disappear."
I'm thinking Emile didn't get a lot of dates.
I feel much better about my self-admitted addiction to the site, mainly because it does help me communicate with cousins out of state and out of the country. The alternative would have been to not talk to any of them because by comparison email is one-dimensional and regular mail is getting too expensive.
I also feel (unlike Mr. Durkheim) that our efforts are what keep legacies alive and memories real. Not to say that Facebook is the venue for creating legacies, but to assume the lowest common denominator about its use is also ridiculous.
And I plan on posting as much on my home page.
Permalink | Email This Blog