3/10/09
SCENE: Restaurant in Atlanta. Your humble narrator has a three-hour layover en route to LA, so Salem has arranged lunch downtown.
Ian's cell phone rings. He sees the caller ID and picks up.
Ian: Hey baby!
Tessa: (on phone) Have you got a minute? Because I have a minor cultural gripe.
Ian: I always want to hear your cultural gripes.
Tessa: I'm really, really sick of all these media pundits and writers making fun of Facebook and Twitter.
Ian (instantly game): Yeah! Who the fuck made the naysayers the arbiters of cool? It's like those moron housewives who used to joke about not being able to turn their computer on. GET WITH THE PROGRAM OR GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU FUCKING LUDDITES!
Tessa: They're all repeating the same joke. (in nasal voice) "Question: what are you doing on Twitter? Answer: NO ONE CARES!" And we're supposed to find that funny?
Ian: Seriously! If you don't like Twitter or Facebook, DON'T LOG ON, assholes!
Tessa: I mean, this stuff is the wave of the future. Not necessarily this exact stuff, but things like it. It's a total generational shift. I mean, obviously someone cares if you're 'tweeting' and there's a billion people on Facebook, so denying it is just stupid.
Ian: My biggest problem with it is these morons actually think they're being funny. (in butthole voice) "The only thing worse than Twitter are people who read other people's 'tweets'. Ha ha ha, oh I'm so above it all."
Tessa: Exactly.
Ian: Like, we ought to be reading 'Anna Karenina' or something instead? You know, I read 'Anna Karenina' and I'm on Facebook, so they can all suck my balls.
Tessa: Is Salem there?
Ian: Yes, right here.
Tessa: Give him my love, won't you?
Ian: I will. Bye, sweetie.
Tessa: Bye, honey!
Posted by Ian Williams at March 10, 2009 11:16 PM"moron housewife"
I don't like the term "housewife."
Reminds me of "house cat."
Even worse when coupled with "moron."Moving on . . . To anyone who challenges the value of facebook, I explain that through facebook I've had two invaluable experiences.
My very best childhood friend and I reunited, visited each other and now exchange messages often. Another friend posted a picture of me at 5 years old wearing the same dress my daughter wears in a photo I posted. I never had a picture of myself in it. If that's not cool, what is?
Totally!!!! AAAarrrggghhh!
Old-timey people hate people who talk on the cell phone in public, even when they have the same conversation that they would have if the person were right there next to them.
They also find blogging, tweeting, and facebook to be unseemly and pointless, yet these same people would have no problem talking about the same sort of stuff in public with a group of people.
It's all about people being unable to keep up with the shifting context of communication in our society, and they deal with it by derision and condescension. It's gross. Don't participate if you don't want to, but don't spread a lot of negativity just because you're scared of what you don't understand.
If you want to see the real wave of the future, check this out. I promise it's worth your time.
http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html
Amazing!
Ian, I found you on twitter, but you're not using it, eh?
Is Tessa there too?
Joanna (above): Thank you so much for that link. I love listening to hyper-brilliant researchers talk about marvelous innovations for the real world. The wristwatch was a particular favorite for me!
My biggest problem with Facebook (which I belong to) and Twitter (which I don't do or follow, yet) is that they can be time-wasters. This is not to discount their benefits, which I appreciate.
On the other hand, it's also endlessly frustrating to have people tell you, "You HAVE to join Facebook! Everyone's on it! We could play Scrabble on it, exchange daily greetings, photos, etc. And you can reconnect with old friends. Why are you so scared of technology? What's wrong with you?"
I think both attitudes suck. Is it possible to be ambivalent about the whole thing?
I think that people who haven't experienced Facebook simply may not understand how powerful it can be. They don't know how great it feels to reconnect with someone from your past, to see everything he or she has accomplished in the past 20 years, and to see exactly how that person has changed and how he or she has stayed the same. In the past, people used to wonder how their old friends turned out. Now, we have cheap, easy technology that enables people to find out. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!
I think it will help people be kinder, because there is a more visual, more convenient record of their behavior.
Also, I love everything about this post.
Love it!
Just a follow-up to my soul-baring post last week: the son my age found me on FB and now we're friends. Weird.
How timely! I love Facebook, and thankfully it's shiny newness has worn off, and it is no longer sucking my productivity.
I started tweeting (for business) last month and am slowly getting the hang of it. Still dont totally get it...
I want to find a way to use FB for business, too, but I am weirded out by the mixing of business and personal. Do my clients really want to see a picture of me at 5 years old? At 16? Do I really want them to? I know...I can always control what they see. How high maintenance though!
My tweets are a mix of business interests and random thoughts at work. I follow some cool folk...I see a morphing of personal and professional happening in these spaces. Suddenly, there is not only a company brand to look after, but I see need to mentor employees on controlling their own brand, especially if they're in social media as part of work.
I am also annoyed by those who poo-poo the paradigm. They need to adapt. Right on!
My motivation for both is to stay relevant....must stay relevant.
End of three consecutive 12 hour work days, so excuse the rambling; I'm punchy...Follow Me on Twitter...link above :) Ciao and good night
RT @xuxE @ian @tessa http://blip.fm/~2vzct #MUSIC #fb
LOL!
Your wife is okay with you saying "suck my balls" without giving you an "Ian!"? You DID marry up.
;)