Comments on: How You Doin?

By: Lauren Nelson

Lauren Nelson — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:52:21 +0000

I am really enjoying all the dialogue that is coming out of this post. Great points, everyone!

By: Cindy Robert

Cindy Robert — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:38:33 +0000

Josh, I like that idea of ambient awareness. There’s certainly benefits to social networking. I’d be hooped without it. The point is, though, that many people continue to use the internet as their primary source of human connectivity. It’s almost as if we view the internet like the “chaise” at a psychiatrists office, it’s the one place we can truly express our true emotions. We don’t value each other enough to create space and time to listen so we’re driven to artificial methods of sharing.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:47:27 +0000

Hmmmmm good thoughts, all.

By: Andrew Turner

Andrew Turner — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:22:04 +0000

I completely agree with Cindy. What I’ve found is that online communications, while having introduced new dynamics to living, haven’t improved quality of life whatsoever.

The most I could say for these new communications is that they are just neutral, neither good nor bad, and poor substitutes for real living.

By: Josh Mock

Josh Mock — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:20:44 +0000

It’s very true that digital exhibitionism opens us up a few new and problematic situations. And it should never replace real, physical social interaction.

On the flip side, I think it’s important to acknowledge a new dynamic that social networks like Twitter and Facebook have created. People have been calling it “ambient awareness.” Techdirt explains it better than I could:

It’s not so much about telling everyone everything you’re doing, or knowing everything that everyone is doing, but it does give you an amazing ambient view into what’s going on in the lives of whoever you follow, and in an odd way makes you feel much more connected to them than you might otherwise. I know that I’ve become much closer friends with some folks entirely due to Twitter just because I’m more aware of what they’re up to on a regular basis, rather than only talking to them infrequently.

My girlfriend and I met each other in person, but our relationship would probably never have happened without both Facebook and Twitter, because it allowed us to maintain an ambient awareness of each other, what we were thinking and what we were up to. Social networking has created and enhanced the best personal relationship in my life in a very real way.

Aside from that, I’ve reconnected with old friends in beneficial ways, improved relationships with coworkers, expanded my awareness of certain issues and ideas and made a few new friends due to this ambient awareness.

Certainly it doesn’t entirely justify the over-sharing a lot of people use status updates for (everything in moderation, right?), but it’s an important concept that is entirely new but beneficial in many ways to many people, and that shouldn’t be discounted.