Social networking has been keeping me in touch after the move and getting me reconnected. For example, this blog has been a good means for me keeping people updated. Not sure who is reading it, but to those who are, hope the bits are amusing and interesting.
I am in better touch with friends and work colleagues in different countries since joining Facebook than before. I have been making use of LinkedIn as well. And i have reconnected with people from all parts of my life, which has been incredible, especially since I have moved around so much and don't get to do that in person as much as I would like. I have a greater sense of my community and enjoy the updates.
The recent debate about who owns the data on social networking sites prompted by an incident with Facebook has me thinking, and I am indulging in a tool that allows me to share those thoughts with those who want to read. For those who don't, stop reading here. After this point, disjointed musings with no organizational structure ensue.
It is a fact in our lives today that we are busy doing things, like living. Working, in relationships, raising children, staying healthy, exploring hobbies and careers. We are moved by our experiences, the things we read and touched by things we see. And we want to share our lives with others.
It is a fact that we often do not see our friends who live in the same city nor do we get a chance to have long telephone conversations. It is a fact that in days gone by, long-distance good friendships were maintained by infrequent visits where you would pick up where you left off, by long newsy letters that elicited great excitement upon arrival and a special time was set aside to savour. It is a fact that postcards were a fun quick update to join our friends on their travels. One friend even gave a map and itinerary of his travels to my mother that she could reference as a postcard from each stop arrived.
It is a fact that as humans, we are social beings, who need community, who need a sense of belonging.
Does social networking fill this need? One step farther, does social networking help us feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves and our immediate lives? Perhaps part of a collective unconscious? Perhaps something more?
There are central places we go to in the real world. Restaurants, movies, bars. places where people, our community, congregates. Where do people congregate in the virtual world? Facebook seems to be taking the lead. Why?
I joined Facebook because it was easier to use than Myspace for me because I don't know how to speak in html. Low and behold, turns out, more of the people i know in the real world also seem to be going to Facebook. Like animals to a watering hole, Well-advertised, close convenient. Like Starbucks, it may not have the best product but it is super convenient and easy to use.
Technology, computers and the internet have become part of our daily lives. Technology has given us new tools we use now to do our work and learn and communicate. I began a career working in technology because I wanted to be a part of something that helped develop our world. I like to think of technology like fire for the cave man.
Technology has developed our world, at least for a segment of our world population. Though, I do have some friends who abstein from Facebook, like conscience observers, preferring their connections be in person. Some friends do not want their personal data to be exploited. I also have some friends and family who do not like computers, do not want to spend their time alone with an inanimate object, but prefer to be out and about. And undoubtedly, there is still a huge part of our world who do not have access to computers at all.
So, what role does technology play in helping those of us who have access be human? And how can technology possibly be a tool that enables us to fulfill our anthropological predilection for community? Enable us to don the zebra mantle to feel safe in groups while exercising our individuality? Will technology prove to be the equivalent of plate tectonics, where the continents split and the result was the different evolutionary path of plants, animals etc. I can certainly see the results in Australia of that split, with the kangaroos hopping around, the distant cousin of the deer/antelope. Will those who socially network develop longer fingers?
In more succint terms, the web is a microcosm of our world. We have rules in place in the real world for how to communicate in person, via letter, via email. We have laws in place that codify morality as defined by our society.
Relating to privacy and data, there are things we all want to keep private. We also as a race like to think we are in control of ourselves, our things. We like choice. We like transparency, aka honesty in our relationships. I do anyway.
Social networking allows us to go beyond communication, but to de facto live in the web. But the idea that Facebook is setting up the rules on what to do with my information seems a little like an autocracy. I tend to live in democracies that intend to have inklings of a representative goverment.
Now this leads us to, who governs the virtual world? Does it need governing the way that we have it set up according to history in the real world since real world governments don’t always seem to work out that well for us these days. But companies first on the scene are taking on some of those elements.
And then again, are they? Facebook has been somewhat responsive to a huge outcry about data concerns. So has twitter. And others.
Perhaps we are seeing evolution. Perhaps we are seeing the emergence of democracy without government?
That's all.
