That was actually the first thing I thought of as I started reading -- how I had just updated my status about a number of friends moving to places that start with 'S' (Singapore, Seattle, San Francisco) And I thought.... truly, why does anyone care? And then the friend that moved to San Fran commented on it... and I felt justified.
What is that? Who really give a crap about what I think? What is potentially more disgusting is that I gave up Facebook for lent. It was an exercise in faith and will power for me, and resulted in a few weeks (during lent and after) of being less addicted to FB. But, much to my dismay, I'm back to where I am. What is this need for connection? And now, we have to be more connected with twitter and blogging (which, apparently, we are in the minority since over half of bloggers are teens.)
I simultaneously resonate with this and hate that I resonate with it. Why do we need to be so connected? What is the yearning to know what everyone is doing, all the time? That has always been my reasoning for resisting the (now even sexier) iPhone. I just DONT need to be that connected (plus, I'm poor. Thats actually probably more of the reason.) The discussion on multitasking was super interesting. While I am currently only using one media, I have 2 other tabs open, and my phone is sitting right next to me, poised and ready for any text message that could come my way that I couldnt POSSIBLY wait 5 minutes before reading and replying. We are to the extent that we need to create a law to prohibit texting and driving; connectedness has trumped safety. How did we let ourselves get this way?
How are we perpetuating the continued "partial" attention paying? Case and point -- how many blogs did you read last week about people who were distracted during the podcast with Buffy? We are over stimulated. We have too many options.
One thing that did puzzle me, however, was the statement in the conclusion that seemed to have a negative connotation: "For teens, life online in an extension of real life."
I dont know that I necessarily see that as a bad thing, except for where over sharing and safety is concerned. I think its almost better to be the same person in real life extended into digital life, rather than kids creating a persona online -- perhaps, the person they want to be. Im not sure. more thought must go into that.
In a fit of passion and disgust, i just went and deactivated my facebook account.
it only took 10 minutes to go reactivate it.
i am going to re-try my status embargo i had a few weeks ago.
we'll see how it goes.
my disgust -- I might say the fact that I am sick and tired of my over connectedness - has led me to share this gem with you -- one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets, Shihan. I respect Shihan a lot, especially after I saw him live, because he mixes a lot of funny with a LOT of real, and plays on words I never imagined. A few choice words are said for those that might be offended, but I dont think they take away from the overall meaning of this piece.
I haven't done the reading yet, but I'm getting the feeling you and Shihan are both sick of things. :)
ReplyDeleteI've never had to give up Facebook for Lent -- I can go easily a few days without looking at it; it's a "nice to have" not an addiction for me. But the last time I was in grad school I did get so many cool and interesting blogs in my RSS reader that I could go whole days without getting any work done on my thesis, and I did give THAT up for Lent. I finally got that back under control until 504 brought up google reader. We'll see how it goes this time. (Hey look! It's 2:15 a.m. and I'm replying to your post!)
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI too dislike being too connected. I like how you mention that too many ways of being connected can make people (especially students) overstimulated. I also thing that with overstimulation can come a sense of being overwhelmed. My roommate was once complaining because he had so much to do and so many emails to send, and that he was always on his phone. I told to relax for awhile and just put the phone away.He was aware of how much stress his smart phone was causing him constantly being connected, and yet he couldn't get away from it. So When he still couldn't get away from his phone I took it and smashed it with a hammer (I may have embellished the story). Point being I had to physically remove the phone so that he wouldn't feel trapped by it.
Emily!
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about giving up something like Facebook for lent! It would be a great test of my will-power... and my greatest concern is that people would hate me for not responding to them. Also Facebook is hard to avoid due to the email notifications of all of the activity on my profile... but I might have to try it this year.
I can totally relate to the obsession with the phone. I'm always aware of the blinking red light of my BB that signifies a text message or a bbm or an email... I look forward to it... which is pretty awful I acknowledge.