I try to keep up, really I do. But information overload, new-fangled communication pathways and "progress" continue to confound my learning curve. No sooner do I master the latest, the latest changes to something I don't have the time or the inclination to learn.
Back in the 90s, it took me about a year to figure out how to type computer commands in DOS. Then I had to learn to use Windows 3.3 when my fave shell Geoworks fell behind in market share. Then there was the Internet, online banking, search engines, email, routers, wireless (which I still haven't deciphered), hard-drive sectors, Windows Me, XP, Vista, and now 7, Facebook, MySpace, blogging, etc. I'm tired. I'm tired of learning new technology, only to have it replaced every year by the next new thing.
My son no longer Blogs, he Tweets on Twitter and shares RSS feeds from Google Reader. (Huh?) I have resisted Twitter, mostly because I suspect my inate verbosity would be inhibited by the 144 character limit. Is it another example of people not having enough time to properly compose an epic, settling for a brief snippet instead? Form over substance? Maybe not. It may be as simple as choosing a more succinct and superficial type of communication ("I'm sitting on the porch") over the complexity of delving into the more complicated issues of the day. I know I'm overwrought enough lately by politics, economics, news of human venality, and natural disasters enough to say "I'll think about all that...tomorrow!" Maybe it is better to just sit on the porch and Tweet that fact to the universe.
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3 comments:
I'm holding out against Twitter too, Pam. I absolutely hate it. I have yet to see anybody say anything truly interesting in 140 characters.
The only useful application of the format is immediately publishing photos with a caption from a cell phone - bypassing all of the hassle of downloading the pic to a computer, uploading it to a server, posting it with a source link, etc.
Otherwise, Twitter is exceedingly lame. I'll berate Alex about it next time I see him.
HEY - I tweet!!! And, FB.......blog SOMETIMES......and, and, and, and,,,,,,,,,,
;-))))))
Okay, Twitter has its limitations. I'm comforted by that. Every time I sat down to do a blog entry the sheer enormity of "catching up" and expressing everything I wanted to overwhelmed me - like trying to clean a room that's just past the point of no return. The solution is to take it in small bites.
I've always been succinct as a writer, turning in papers back in school that were half the required page count because I already said what I wanted to say. My social life is pretty packed - I just don't have the time to blog. Truth be told, I don't even tweet as much as I'd like to. But to me, posting the occasional snippet is preferable to letting the possibly brilliant or funny or poignant (down the line) thought go unrecorded.
And there's not much of a learning curve to it, really. Its success is partly due to its simplicity. RSS feeds are another story...
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