The Social Network

Yes, for a while this was me....

I've generally been sort of reluctant to get heavily involved in social media, for a number of reasons.  I wouldn't say I'm an especially public person, especially about the things that mean the most to me.  I also grew up in the era just before "Web 2.0" really became widespread (I still remember when Facebook only accepted registrations from a .edu email), so I had "old fashioned" ideas about friendship being something that happens face-to-face between people that see one-enother frequently in real life.  Only gradually did I come to appreciate the ability of the web to keep a person connected to old friends now-distant, or to connect one with new people who had shared interests.

It was also hard to ignore the familiar litany of privacy and security concerns that go along with social networking.  Is it really safe to let the world know where you are, what your routine is, and what things you're involved with?  Do I really feel like sharing my patterns and preferences with companies that will bombard me with advertising?  Most anyone I've been around who is involved with any sort of network security regards social networking as the Root of All (security) Evil. 

Lately, however, I've really picked up posting on facebook, added a proper Google+ account, and (as we can see) have started blogging again.  On the professional side, I've even brushed up a LinkedIn account, which seemed to be a good idea for networking purposes.

So far, it's been fun.  I've seen some updates from friends, shared my own updates and enjoyed receiving comments and "likes" in return.  I'm still a little ambivalent about it in some ways.  I don't want to "live" on Facebook and not have a life, or become dependent on social media for validation.  So in a way it is a bit hard to pin down exactly why I chose to dive in, and why I chose to do so now.  Sure, I've had a Facebook account for quite a while, but I really didn't use it much and barely checked it at all.  Well, I have to confess that there was a brief spate where I got sucked in by the games, but that got old pretty quick.  Then I went right back to ignoring Facebook. 

I suppose my new embrace of the Social Internet is in part to do with the fact that it is hard to find a lot of like-minded, reasonably-educated people to hang out with fact-to-face where I live.  My colleagues are wonderful, and I do consider some of them good friends, but it seemed to be important to move in a broader circle than that.  Luckily, I feel like I've found some of that wider circle, but many of them live an hour or so away, and a few in particular share extensively on Facebook, so it is the best way to stay connected with them.  I admit that it also feels nice to also be back in touch with some of my good friends from previous days.

I guess only time will tell how everything will work out, but for right now I am really enjoying myself, and I hope to continue to stay connected.  So, I wave hello across the electronic airwaves, and say "welcome" to passers-by.  I'll be seeing you in cyberspace.