August 2014: Social Networking, Blogs, Facebook, Instagram and Tweets… Oh My!

Over the last week or two, as I was blithely texting, tweeting, liking, commenting and clicking along in my day-to-day manner of connecting with humanity far and wide, I bumped up against the existing controversy over social media dividing or uniting us. Three experiences in particular caught my attention. One was a video decrying the utter inhumanity to humankind of people connecting through a screen and keyboard instead of face-to-face and eye-to-eye up close and personal like we used to. (We did?) Another voice was that of a put-upon international outreach worker who, after initially accepting FB friends willy-nilly and finding little of interest in their posts, determined the whole social media thing was beneath her dignity, but would occasionally deign to issue a post with photo (if you insist). The third, and most in keeping with my own view, was a cry from the wilderness of blog-land from a talented, well-informed, writer, poster, blogger, compiler and presenter of information she shares as a way of making her voice heard and to experience a broad and sometimes deep sense of connection with people and points of view the world over. I had talked with Mother, too, about the advantages of upgrading to stay connected to family/friends across the country rather than invoking the age-old guilt motivator: “Whatsa matta you? (Picture here a smack up side the head…)  Mister/Missy ‘I’m too important to pick up the phone and call Grandma?!’ Kids now –a-days.  Whadyya gonna do?”  You might remember I raised similar issues here in May 2012.  I paraphrase here.  Can you guess which view I hold in the great social media, should we/shouldn’t we, debate?

“… Here’s something I love about THE COMMUNITY REPORTER…. I get it on my front porch and at local West End businesses… And/or (and you will love this) I sit right here on my laptop and go to http://www.communityreporter.org and read a complete and current issue or issues archived far into history.  I use FACEBOOK, our family business website (and our three linked blogs) and sometimes email to spread the word about our amazing community paper.  Just think—our West End community has Worldwide reach.  Seems to me the ONLY way to avoid knowing all about our neighbors and our community is to determinedly cover our ears and eyes and unplug.  I hear some of you would love to do just that and I myself am in a bit of a quandary about just how connected I want to be.

The great thing about sites like FACEBOOK is we can keep up to date on what our friends, neighbors, colleagues, their friends, neighbors and colleagues and, yes, their friends, neighbors and colleagues are up to and thinking and learning.  It gives us an opportunity to champion and share the views of others and to rejoice in their achievements and life events. The lousy thing about FACEBOOK is “we can keep up to date on what our friends, neighbors, colleagues, their friends, neighbors and colleagues and, yes, their friends, neighbors and colleagues are up to and thinking and learning.”

All of this is to say I like more than dislike the connections and conversations I share on FACEBOOK, THE COMMUNITY REPORTER, WEBSITES/BLOGS and EMAIL.  I like knowing A. and L. were on the beach last week, that M.L’s recent move is going well, that K. has a studio/gallery brim full of pots for us to peruse, that Krugman hit that nail right on the head in the NYT yesterday, that some of you think the Pope is right/wrong to resign and I love seeing all of you profess your adoration to your darling Valentine.   Let’s keep it civil, keep it kind, and keep it circumspect.  Let’s use social networking to spread love not hate, support and encouragement, not vitriol.  I’m not saying we must withhold our strong opinions or our intense desire for change in this world.  I believe our voices will be heard and our viewpoints entertained more often if our delivery is civil and diplomatic and, yes, sometimes even FUNNY!  See you on the WEB!  I’ll be the one liking, sharing and/or commenting on your post.

Deborah Padgett is a visual artist and writer. Find her books, SOLVING LONELY, THE SEA IN WINTER and A STORY LIKE TRUTH at various retailers, online and at your local library. Her web address is padgettstudios.com.