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(Reuters) - The social networking phenomenon has nowhere to go but up as computer use becomes more mobile, according to leading figures in the development of the popular sites Facebook and Twitter.
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"With a few clicks you're having a social experience," Hughes said, adding that the functionality can be a way to cut through information overload that many struggle with.
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Twitter, said Stone, "is not going to be a triumph of technology -- it's going to be a triumph of humanity ... the growth potential is there from a positive change perspective, not just a business perspective."
While it's true now there will be a leveling off and eveyone gets to play around with it. Even my kids, who are 20 and 23, often get bored and/or overwhelmed with "social drama" and just unplug themselves for awhile. They don't use twitter at all anymore and often turn off their iphones to actually live in the moment. I'm not saying it will all go away, but it won't always be the thing either. Eventually there will be specific reasons to use these services and not things to sit on 24/7.
(Reuters) - The social networking phenomenon has nowhere to go but up as computer use becomes more mobile, according to leading figures in the development of the popular sites Facebook and Twitter.
***
"With a few clicks you're having a social experience," Hughes said, adding that the functionality can be a way to cut through information overload that many struggle with.
***
Twitter, said Stone, "is not going to be a triumph of technology -- it's going to be a triumph of humanity ... the growth potential is there from a positive change perspective, not just a business perspective."
I'll offer some more tomorrow perhaps as I was just working on a bit about how the internet and social sites are now having greater influence over everything from personal security, politics, privacy, marketing, etc...
The world is fast becoming a spread sheet and now they have found away to make participating in it fun.
The rise of social sites has had an interesting impact already on our society and I have no doubt will have an even greater impact as the online world continues to meld with the mobile world of smart phones, netbooks, etc...
One of the main reasons I believe it has become so popular is that it has allowed all those people in small towns, farms, rural places, along with those lost in a sea of humanity in large cities and human congregations to have an outlet. Additionally, it allows those people who might otherwise be too shy or introverted to normally engage in face to face contact to also have their voices heard and all the while it can be done behind a shield of anonymity.
What I've found is that this liberating effect also serves vanity and to some degree narcissism. There are over 100 million people each day shouting their life's intimate details to millions of people who for the most part could care less. I've seen folks on facebook and twitter run to make a post every hour to update the world that they have put a pot roast in the oven, decided to sit on the porch, or got a card from a relative. Everyone is now a participant in the worlds largest reality show.
Now as we all know, one of the hardest things people have to face is being wrong about something. Personally held beliefs are passionate and run deep, and many people wish to share their version of how the world is with everyone else. After all, many of us are here doing just that.
When large segments of the population believe little to nothing out of the media and press (and it is mostly their own damn fault) the odd phenomena is that they do believe their own views and often anything they read off the net that reinforces their own beliefs.
Think of the odd scenario this brings to society when most people no longer believe or trust institutions but instead believe a blogger who happens to agree with them. We now have a national mob mentality and it works at the speed of light, reacting to every news clip, every bit of information, joke, something someone says, etc... at the blink of an eye.
We are no longer digesting information and thinking about it but more instinctively reacting and generally in a more visceral manner than a cognitive one. In addition we are moving from sound byte to sound byte at a pace never before conceived, and on top of this, the media and government also feed upon this.
The true impact of this growing interconnection is hard to realize as it is still for the most part in its infancy. I suppose it can be a great thing and it can be a horrid thing, all depending upon how it is used.
I will say that for anyone who has ever read Edward Louis Bernays and know what he has done for society, they should pay particular attention.
Location: Georgia, on the Florida line, right above Tallahassee
10,471 posts, read 15,835,178 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TnHilltopper
There are over 100 million people each day shouting their life's intimate details to millions of people who for the most part could care less.
I've heard people have used twitter to describe what they were having for lunch. I've seen people who can't or won't write down what they needed for food and walking aisles..."Get the bread, ok got bread, we need milk? OK, got the milk." and I think, "I bet you've got a hell of a budget."
Cell phones to me are useful. Like, if my battery dies, useful. Otherwise, they're an electronic ankle bracelet. I've had to use them for work. I don't own one personally. My wife has one she uses. And Triple A for that matter. She won't have to even change a tire. I don't think she could change one, to be honest. It probablay weighs 1/7th what she does.
I have a facebook account. I made it so I could see some pictures she put on hers. I haven't been back since. I've so far since I've made it, got 5 or 6 "Your friends are waiting!" messages, and "Someone has posted an important announcement!" messages" and I think, "If it was so damn important, send me an email or call me." They can't call me, cuz I'm in Iraq, but Facebook? Heh. It's mental porn. Those messages? See how enticing they are? It's the same as email "erectile disfunction" messages for the penis-impaired. Or the people who think they are impaired. To me, it's no different than a amateur porn site, in many ways. Show yourself to the world. Give yourself - and your information - to Facebook to sell to advertisers? For free? No, thank you.
My Facebook account is totally fake/wrong, BTW. I don't care.
*********************************************
My father gave me some great advice a long time ago.
"Son, if you tell everybody all your business....pretty soon, you won't have any business."
*********************************
Want to see something funny? Google your name. You've probably done that before. Google your phone number. That's your address. Now Google your social secutiy number. Yep, There it is.
I've heard people have used twitter to describe what they were having for lunch. I've seen people who can't or won't write down what they needed for food and walking aisles..."Get the bread, ok got bread, we need milk? OK, got the milk." and I think, "I bet you've got a hell of a budget."
Cell phones to me are useful. Like, if my battery dies, useful. Otherwise, they're an electronic ankle bracelet. I've had to use them for work. I don't own one personally. My wife has one she uses. And Triple A for that matter. She won't have to even change a tire. I don't think she could change one, to be honest. It probablay weighs 1/7th what she does.
I have a facebook account. I made it so I could see some pictures she put on hers. I haven't been back since. I've so far since I've made it, got 5 or 6 "Your friends are waiting!" messages, and "Someone has posted an important announcement!" messages" and I think, "If it was so damn important, send me an email or call me." They can't call me, cuz I'm in Iraq, but Facebook? Heh. It's mental porn. Those messages? See how enticing they are? It's the same as email "erectile disfunction" messages for the penis-impaired. Or the people who think they are impaired. To me, it's no different than a amateur porn site, in many ways. Show yourself to the world. Give yourself - and your information - to Facebook to sell to advertisers? For free? No, thank you.
My Facebook account is totally fake/wrong, BTW. I don't care.
*********************************************
My father gave me some great advice a long time ago.
"Son, if you tell everybody all your business....pretty soon, you won't have any business."
*********************************
Want to see something funny? Google your name. You've probably done that before. Google your phone number. That's your address. Now Google your social secutiy number. Yep, There it is.
We are at a truly new place when it comes the human socialization and inter connectedness. Oddly enough though, it would almost seem that while we spread out millions of connections to places we might not normally connect with, we at the same time become a bit more isolated in the sense that we interact less in a personal manner.
There are many theories now that the size of the human brain and its extremely advanced nature that separates us from say the higher apes, is not necessarily because of our ability to make or use tools, as other animals also do this, but more due to socialization. On average, humans can maintain about 150 interpersonal relations, which is quite large, in fact it is three times larger than say a chimp which can only maintain about 50 interpersonal relations and subsequently has a brain about 1/3 the size of ours. Perhaps coincidence, or perhaps not.
I have to chuckle in some respects as many folks make a big fuss over government and business intrusion to personal privacy, and after all, we are little more than boxes on a giant spread sheet anymore. Yet while many will complain about this loss of privacy, they will hop on Twitter or Facebook and share every intimate detail of their lives, often with people they barely know.
I can see some very positive aspects to this new age of inteconnectivity and socialization, but I can also see a dark side and a loss of detail and precision in thoughts. Namely in the art of language and communication, where the complexity and nuance that has evolved over many centuries is now regressing into a cell phone text format, u no what i mean, like omg wth lol.
I've heard people have used twitter to describe what they were having for lunch. I've seen people who can't or won't write down what they needed for food and walking aisles..."Get the bread, ok got bread, we need milk? OK, got the milk." and I think, "I bet you've got a hell of a budget."
Cell phones to me are useful. Like, if my battery dies, useful. Otherwise, they're an electronic ankle bracelet. I've had to use them for work. I don't own one personally. My wife has one she uses. And Triple A for that matter. She won't have to even change a tire. I don't think she could change one, to be honest. It probablay weighs 1/7th what she does.
I have a facebook account. I made it so I could see some pictures she put on hers. I haven't been back since. I've so far since I've made it, got 5 or 6 "Your friends are waiting!" messages, and "Someone has posted an important announcement!" messages" and I think, "If it was so damn important, send me an email or call me." They can't call me, cuz I'm in Iraq, but Facebook? Heh. It's mental porn. Those messages? See how enticing they are? It's the same as email "erectile disfunction" messages for the penis-impaired. Or the people who think they are impaired. To me, it's no different than a amateur porn site, in many ways. Show yourself to the world. Give yourself - and your information - to Facebook to sell to advertisers? For free? No, thank you.
My Facebook account is totally fake/wrong, BTW. I don't care.
*********************************************
My father gave me some great advice a long time ago.
"Son, if you tell everybody all your business....pretty soon, you won't have any business."
*********************************
Want to see something funny? Google your name. You've probably done that before. Google your phone number. That's your address. Now Google your social secutiy number. Yep, There it is.
I never trusted the Web, always used anonymous and false information. Thus there is almost nothing about me on the Web. There are 10 hits when specifically looking for my name in combination with my former employer, but it really only mentions my name in those links, no other information whatsoever. And given the frequency of my name one gets millions of hits without looking for my former employer at the same time
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