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By Carla Schroder on February 27, 2009 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I miss the olden days when I was cutting-edge. I was the first kid on my block to get into computers, and then I was the first Linux geek. I was the first to have my own domain name and personal Web site, and I didn't even use blink tags, for I was like hip and too smart. For many years I was the only woman in my little corner of geek-land. Now I'm a grumpy old fossil who doesn't own a cell phone or any other portable electronic leashes, and to me this strange new world of social networking is one gigantic overdose of Too Much Information.

The concept of social networks is not new, because even back in the bad old ASCII days we had Usenet, Fidonet, Bulletin Board Services, MUDs, chatrooms, and so on. It was wonderful-- for twenty bucks a month to get online I could talk to people all over the planet. Facebook, MySpace, and so on are the natural evolutions of those early text-based social networks. Now they're all glitzy, script-and graphics-heavy, full of annoying ads and spam, and new generations of users who faint at the sight of a command prompt. But this new generation are remarkably bold at sharing intimate personal details and humiliations in detail and in color. It's like those garrulous strangers who pester people at bus stops with gory details of their sex and medical histories discovered it was much more efficient to spread vast doses of TMI online.

Can We Have Some Effing Manners, Please?

There is an even creepier aspect to all of this, that is enabled by Internet-connected mobile devices. Nothing is safe. Back in the good old days a person could pick her nose or scratch her behind in a public place, and maybe it would be noticed, maybe not. Now it's on MySpace seconds after it happens. You don't even have to be a geek anymore, just a voyeur with no respect for other people's personal space, and the ability to click a couple of buttons.

Even worse, online space has become more important than meatspace. In the olden days it was considered rude to invite someone to your home for a visit and leave the TV on. Turn the boob tube off and pay attention to your guests. Now even the President of the US can't command people's undivided attention for a few minutes-- during President Obama's address to Congress, hordes of Congresspersons were Twittering, checking email, placing bets, pr0n surfing-- OK I don't know about the last two, I just know human nature, and that a lot of them had their faces buried in their Blackberries like they have attention deficit disorder.

For me, the downhill slide started with call waiting. Don't put me on hold, especially when you call me. I hang up when anyone does that to me. Cell phones are worse. Live humans take precedence over phone calls, and if it's not direly important do have the courtesy to let it go to voicemail. For deity's sake, turn the dratted thing off once in awhile. Oh I know, it's frightening to be disconnected for a few minutes, but it's not fatal.

Faster is Not Better, Just More Abuse-able

There are very few events or thoughts in life that are so earth-shatteringly important and wonderful that they have to be broadcast to one's online network instantly. Multi-tasking is a myth; it's just another way of saying "slapdash and inefficient."

I'm wandering on and off-topic here, but that's OK, I forgive myself. Online social networks can be cool and fun, and like all technologies they magnify everything equally, both good and bad. Now if you will excuse me, I must go finish my animated, motion-sensor activated Linux-powered "Get off my lawn" sign.

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4 Comments

John said:

I agree. I do not like the overload of information as well. I do not have a cell phone and I probably never will. I do belong to myspace but do not use it the way it is supposed to be used. I mainly use it to email friends and to find new music.

February 27, 2009 6:19 PM

bjd said:

Hi Carla,

Almost exactly my sentiments. We must simply be too old -- fifty in my case.

But, when occasionally some young kid looks up to me from their gadget
and assumes what I just said, and assumes there comes a point in one's
life when technology has progressed beyond a persons's grasp, and THE
moment in technology is always NOW, I sometimes ask: "sure, but tell me --
did in your lifetime men walk on the moon?".
You see, you have to be a certain age to have witnessed that. None of these
kids have!

bjd
The Netherlands

February 27, 2009 7:29 PM

IGnatius T Foobar said:

Amen to that, sister. The old-skool online scene had (and still has) far more taste than Fecesbook. That's why the scene still exists. I know a lot of people, myself included, who continue to hang out on BBS's and absolutely refuse to set up a Fecesbook account. (Disclosure: I've been a BBS sysop for over 20 years. We've been on the Internet for 12 of those years. And we've seen plenty of flavors-of-the-month come and go. Eventually you discover that it's the people that matter.)

February 27, 2009 10:26 PM

Crazy Henaway said:

Cripes, I'm only 31 and I share your sentiment. Yeah, I Facebook to keep up with friends old and current, and I even remember to Twitter every couple of weeks.

But I have no desire to have a cell phone. Only time I find them of value is when I'm on a long road trip. And for those times, I find that disposable cells like a Tracfone is a great deal when I'm south of the border. (They don't work in Canada ... which is too bad.)

There's something nice about being able to disconnect now and then. More people should try it more often.

February 27, 2009 11:31 PM