This is the first post. I find myself longing to write and do something constructing at the same time, this is my attempt at doing so. Now, i have had this same tumblr for almost 2 years now, but I have not actually done much for the past couple of 8 months. Due to my life being the usual mess and being working, Ive had seldom time to. And that’s rather unfortunate. I rather miss it!
For those who are interested, (i.e, no one.) Here’s my thought of the day. I like the idea of being able to look back at a particular place in my life and reminisce at about what was going on at that point. We live in the Information age, so much so that at times it seems like a sensory overload! people no longer have to go through the difficulty of leading double lives in reality, they are now able to lead double lives (well an infinite amount of, really) within the comfort and relative safety of their home. Ive always found it very fascinating. To say that Social interaction hasn’t changed in the last decade is an understatement to say the least!
The biggest and easily most important changes have come about in communication. People are able to carry their social lives with them on their smart phones now! And more and more people are getting them too. It’s not surprising, those devices are amazing! but whats really more unbelievable, is that the very concept of “The Phone” itself has changed. The talented Comedian Louis C.K made this rather astute observation in his most recent Stand up DVD show “Hilarious”. (In which he makes many amazing and funny observations. It’s a great show, I highly recommend It!) I’m just paraphrasing, but Remember when the phone was called just that, “The Phone”. It was this thing you had somewhere in your house. Now everybody just has “a phone”. its one of those changes that I didn’t notice until he said it. but it is mind-blowing!
It’s become like a second wallet. I don’t feel as comfortable when I dont have it on me! For some people it goes as far as them thinking they feel it vibrate when its not even in their pocket, or hearing it ring when it’s miles away! while i can’t say ive experienced those kinds of discomfort, It’s a noticeable difference from when i remember not having one as a kid. Some cant even remember that far back, or dont have that far to go depending on how old they were when givin their first cell phone.
Kids these days, much like in my childhood, are becoming more and more familiar with new technology. As far back as grade 1, I remember my classmates and I using computers (Or Compoopers, as i was known to call them) on a very regular basis! we had a Computer class even! Mavis Beacon, Kidpix, those were the days! but the extent of this early interactions are felt to this day. It must have been interesting for parents in the 90’s when their offspring knew computers like they knew their cars. Thats probably not the most realistic example, but like cars, for the most part we kids understood are computers to a certain extent. Of course we didnt manufacture it, but we understood the fundamentals. knew how to steer it, change its tires, and recognize the differences between models and what certain defects were. That said, should there be defects, for the most part we knew how to fix them. Or enough to know if we needed a professional.
I remember doing tech support for my parents when I was as old as 10. Now, i’m not trying to make the point that all parents couldn’t fix computers, and not because they were stupid or anything silly like that. the difference is that we used them more. thats really all it is. See, for our parents, they got along just fine without computers. Sure, they understood the benefits of them, but they just didn’t need them or want to use them the same way we did.
The ancestors of social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, go as far back as 1994 when sites like Geocities, Sixdegrees, And Friendster came along. In the days of Web. 1.0, there wasnt exactly as much to do online as their is now. The internet was a valuable source for information, but the idea that it could be used for social networking was a new idea, and not yet widely accepted. Heck, why not just actually see the person then sending them some modern form of a letter? For most, the gesture was even considered offensive! I mean, surely if you wanted to communicate with them, you would see them for some face-to-face, realistic contact? or at the very least do something tangible, like drop a line so they could at the very least hear your voice?
Funny how things change eh? well thats enough for tonight! feel free to reply with you thoughts or questions. Until next time. :)
