Social networking:
New ways of doing the same old things
I’ve been thinking about the adaptation of familiar homo sapiens
social
behaviors to the explosion of online communication software and devices.
We used to share news by telling stories around the fire. Then
we read the
newspaper and watched TV. Now we’re sending out our phone photos
and
checking the news on iPods. There’s no one in charge and no end
in sight.
How do we find our footing in the changing landscape of tweets, pokes,
texts
and hashtags?
Ultimately, we human beings are still compelled to do the things
that have
always come naturally to us as social beings—make friends and find
mates,
observe family milestones, educate, sell and buy, pray, play, compete,
collaborate and squabble.
It’s exciting to know that our basic need for interaction
has so many means
of expression. The new lesson we must learn is how to balance self-interest
with the good of the flock. Here’s hoping 2010 will see the dawn
of a decade
in which the cacophony of the irrelevant and unproductive gives way to
the
harmonious ring of meaningful speaking and thoughtful listening.
Peace be with you.
Carol
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