I think it’s pretty easy to lose yourself in the constant stream of shallow social scenes that show no semblance of sanity so often. We can’t leave though, right? I mean. Unless we want to. But we don’t. So, problem solved!
I like to think of social networks as voluntary telepathy. We’re stuck seeing inside the minds and reading the surface thoughts of our friends, family and frenemies. I used to think about how terrifying it would be to have the power to read minds. To know what everyone truly thought about you and everything else. Instant thoughts that aren’t considered would be what informed my opinion of people, not the refined ideas that they gave me once we engaged in conversation. Now I see people’s political assumptions and prejudices, and before people have a chance to learn other people are rushing in to put the fire out with a heap of napalm.
This makes my social scene sound worse than it is. I keep a short list of people in my social scenes. That’s one of the hardest parts of social media is learning to tell people no when they ask to move into your virtual living room. But having a well-maintained online presence, I believe, is a skill people will actually have to learn in society. We’ll see, right?
Now if you’ll excuse me, the twitch in my shoulder says I haven’t checked Twitter in a few minutes. I have to get back. They need me.