It’s time for bloggers to take a deep breath, look in the mirror and admit that something (dramatic) is going on here. The other week, I celebrated 12 years of blogging (not a typo). I have posted anywhere from four to seven items a week...To know me, is to know that I am still deeply passionate about my blog, writing and the digital publishing experience. I was there when it first started (remember Blogger)... and still - to this day - love to hit the publish button. With that, the world continues to change and evolve.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/mitch-joel/the-end-of-blogging/10156135218305506/
Has Twitter and Facebook put us all on the road to using emojis and animated gifs to communicate with each other? It is an art to use words to express your ideas. There is comfort in sharing your thoughts, your experiences with others. We've been doing it for centuries. There is a sense of family and belonging that comes from closer friendships that is lost when leaving random comments around the internet to faceless readers.
I noticed a friend of mine recently commented on a local news site. She was lambasted with horrible hate responses because her political opinion was not accepted by others. The bullying, random anger, and threats that occur behind a computer screen is something that is growing. Our teens are experiencing it more and more each year. There is a disconnect, an anonymity that allows some to behave in ways they never would in person. The threat of attacks, by a small group (often paid commentators) are silencing the voices of good people. It is not by mistake.
I miss the grandeur we once were. I hate to see us becoming temporary, transient, disconnected. It is sad to see friendships waning... because it is just easier to slip in an emoji instead of a comment....or, worse yet, say nothing at all....
"Nielsen research is showing that traffic to to WordPress and Blogger the two major blogging sites is stagnating, while Facebook’s traffic grew by 66% last year and Twitters by 47%. ...Facebook the social media giant has since arrived on the scene and developed into a multi-media rich social networking portal where you can invite all your friends and share your story with minimal friction."
http://www.jeffbllas.com/is-facebook-killing-the-blog/
Facebook gave me a pop up survey. For some reason, I must have been in the mood. I completed the survey and gave my responses considerable thought, especially when given an open ended comment box at the completion of the survey. I do believe we are smarter as a whole due to readily available information. We are at least more prepared in some fashion. However, there are major downfalls, social and emotional that come from our time behind a screen. We are more connected.... yet terribly less connected in other ways.
ReplyDeleteNeat, THE REAL THING.
ReplyDeleteI've been gone since all the stuff that was on my old computer didn't transfer. I finally got back on after fighting to get a password fix, since I couldn't remember my old one. CRS is here.
ReplyDeleteOh no.... glad you are back! Missed you terribly!
ReplyDelete