Drumroll, please. I've gone and done it. I've held my breath, pinched my nose and jumped in the deep, smelly end of the internet. This weekend I have joined the rest of the kids at the cool lunch table -- myspace. I'm not really sure yet what the immense attraction is to this social networking phenomenon, but I'm all ears...er, eyes. Whatever. You can check me out here. I am quite sure I'm the oldest person in this intense, high speed cyber world of bravado, tall tales, promiscous sexuality and egos the size of Jovian planets puncuated by mysterious acronyms, emoticons, hyperactive and glitzy animated greetings to one another, and of course -- the ubiquitous BlinkingBouncingSparklingSpeaking banner ads which hover over us all, every minute of every day begging us to click on their colorful plumes, titilating us with smooth sales pitches like snake oil salesmen of the late 19th century.
For now I'm calling this a scientific experimental journey into the heart of the New Online World. Apparently this is a place where friendships are made and broken, relationships hatched and shattered, and gossip runs rampant. All this, and it's not uncommon for people to never actually see the face or hear the voice of the people with whom they're so intimately involved with.
Wish me luck.
9 comments:
So how is myspace working out for you?
I use both myspace and facebook for keeping in touch with friends, and looking up "lost" ones from years ago.
Personally, I enjoy the "standard" form that facebook offers. The ads are less obtrusive, and glitzy. Music does not automatically start on peoples profiles, and no one profile takes longer than others to load... Problem being that some friends are on one but not the other.
I think that these networking sites are here to stay and viable means of communication. Dare I say they may even gain enough popularity to be an alternative to e-mail in even the business world? Time will tell...
People by nature enjoy secretly checking on others, knowing what is going on in their lives, without prying. These networking sites allow that and are the entire reason they are so popular.
Funny you should mention Facebook. Just about the time I got set up on Myspace I was informed by Paula's brother Dan that Myspace is so two years ago, today it's all about facebook.
I feel like my Dad when I was a teenager in the 80's - "Oh, is that the new band you're listening to? What are they called...the Beatles?"
Another great advantage to Facebook is that it's not overridden with shady links and viruses..
You should check it out sometime... I think you would be pleasantly surprised... Dare I say facebook is the "mac version" of networking sites?
so... what do you think?
Facebook is much better than myspace, in my humble opinion (a.k.a. "IMHO"). Ads are non-intrusive, and the networking aspect is great. Yes, myspace has networking, but it's tough to find the legitimate friend requests among the many spam-friend requests sent by girls with names like "Vikki" and "Heather" and who apparently have a penchant for showing pictures of themselves only partially clothed, or less.
Facebook looks like myspace, grown up. Thanks for the tip!
Okay, I need to stay on top of my brother's blog a little better. This post cracks me up. Not because it's funny that you're on myspace, but because of what's going on in my world in stark contrast.
There was a time, I think (I'm not even sure anymore) when I was the one trying to get my brother "into computers". This is so long ago that I'm not even sure it's an accurate memory anymore, but I'm pretty sure we've had conversations and talked about this being true.
Anyway... Pretty much ever since my bro has been catapulting himself further and further into the 23rd century, and I've been running faster and faster back to the 19th.
So here's the humor: In the past two weeks I've gone back to dictating all of my letters at work because I've become too irritated with typing them. Also, I've begun hand-writing (that's with a pen, for you youngsters) letters to people to stay in touch as opposed to emailing. I tried to send a text message a year ago. It didn't go through. I haven't tried again since. I planted and harvested my own garden this year so I could make my own pasta sauce and chilli from scratch. My sister-in-law is coming over for breakfast (our standard bribe to get people to go to church with us) and I'll be making biscuits... from scratch.
Meanwhile, you are excelling at a job title that I don't fully understand. Okay, I don't understand it at all. It has something to do with the fact that your employers know that I bought three boxes of Kleenex yesterday at the grocery store, and they've already adjusted their 2008 logistics forecasts accordingly. That freaks me out a little.
In addition, you have two computers in your house that talk to each other. I'm not sure what they say, but they talk to each other. They also converse from time to time with a keyboard... the musical type.
You bought me an i-pod which i listen to all the time. I just recently found out it "only" holds 250 songs. I thought that was a lot. It still do think that's alot. I haven't filled it up to capacity yet. I use i-tunes to fill it up with music for working out. But I'm just now thinking that I have never downloaded a song on i-tunes. All of the songs I have on i-tunes are from you (via the ipod) or from my CD collection.
How did this happen? I can't help but think that if either of us is on "the right path" it's not me. Embracing technology is a good thing, after all. But it just cracks me up that the further and further you dive into it, the further and further I run from it. And somehow we're getting along better these days than we ever have before in our lives.
Well... except for when we used to eat a whole package of hot dogs and watch "Cops". That will never be topped. (Chicos malos. Chicos malos.) But where we are now is a pretty strong second...
Congrats on your entry to myspace (and I assume facebook at some point??) I gotta run. I need to churn some butter, milk the cows, and ride into town to buy some more ink for my fountain pen.
LOL (that means "Laugh Out Loud", BTW...that means "By The Way" IIRC....that means "If I Recall Correctly".....ah, to hell with it)
Weird, saw your post just now. Last night I put the following relevant quote on my myspace and facebook pages:
"If Shakespeare were working right now, he wouldn't be working with a quill pen. He would be working with whatever the cutting edge of theatrical drama would be. And this is where literature is headed." - Ken Kesey
But hey, if fountain pens work for you, that's cool. Christmas is coming, maybe there'll be a pocket protecter in there for you! How's that for irony? The anti-technologist with a pocket protector.
There must be a pocket protector out there with a completely outdated Apple logo. That would heighten the irony even more.
There probably is, but to the rabid underground culture of people who collect rare apple branded stuff, a pocket protector with the apple logo would probably cost more on ebay than a new apple computer.
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