Ok, now I have some second thoughts about this blog. Not only because I am still hesitating about the exact topic or purpose. I’m a bit angry with all that new- age- type -of -communication thing. Social networking is like guys- you can’t live with them, you can’t live without them. Or wait, this is what men say about women. Anyway, I just saw on facebook that a friend of mine I used to go to university with (we were never really close) got married on 09.09.09 on Mauritius. Great! Something I’d probably never know if it hasn’t been for this social tool. So, how does this information help me? I mean, I could congratulate her or I could just click the “like” button (Back in the time, texting substituted personal phone calls which we weren’t really eager to make, but now we don’t even need to explain ourselves that much) I can see what a lovely bride she was. I can even see her husband, who I’d have most probably never had the chance to encounter in live. But, does this change my life in anyway? No! So why do I need to know all that stuff about other people.
Besides, it’s never what it looks like. Another example: Two weeks ago here in Paris I bumped into a friend that I used to stay together with for a while in London two years ago. It was a really “nice” coincidence. I kind of had an idea of what she’s been doing lately thanks to her status updates- lots of travelling to exotic places, lots of nice jobs and so on. She seemed to have a life to die for. So I meet her, we go for coffee, have a nice chat and than she tells me how she broke up with this guy she really loved, how she broke her knee and couldn’t walk and work for 6 months and some other not so “cool” stuff that happened to her. So, while I’ve been really really happy for her and maybe just a bit envy (let'a call things their names) it turns out that she might use a friend or someone to talk to…
Of course, for those we care we don’t need any social networks. Our closest friends, our family-we know how they are doing, we still talk on the phone or occasionally meet. And this is my point- our human nature. We are social creatures; we need to communicate, to keep in touch. Underline IN TOUCH. Very nice figure of speech, isn’t it? Because keeping in touch is basically, if you try to imagine it, being close to each other, so that you won’t lose the “touch”. And as it turns out blogging and networking, except it’s for business or on a specific topic, doesn’t REALLY gives you an idea about…well there is no REAL TOUCH.
Ok I admit- social networking has lots of good sides too. That’s why I’m still in all those creepy virtual communities. Especially for people who travel. And especially nowadays, when everybody travels. The woman I am staying with here, she is a hairdresser. And yes, she travels for work too. She goes every two months to… I forgot which country in Africa to make the hair of some apparently very important guy who is flying in his hairdresser from Paris every two months. I’m sorry for repeating myself but I just want to make sure that you got my point- a HAIRSTYLE!!! What about the environment, the ozone layer, the we -are –running- out –of- natural-resource-concern, the pollution, the let’s-donate-1-euro-every-month-for-a –hungry-child-in-Africa? Yeah, what about all those things. I’ll tell you what- we wouldn’t need them if they had good hairdressers and chiefs and probably dentists in Africa. And I have these very same thoughts every time when I get booked for a job in another city- isn’t there anybody who can do it there. Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling. But can somebody more responsible please care about our planet a bit. I know we can’t ban people flying around, but if there is a big flood the Maldives will be the first place on Earth to disappear, and I really want go there for my honeymoon some years from now, eventually. So I really hope the Earth can stand us and our irresponsible wishes for a bit longer. I’d go there by boat if that is what it takes. Than we can all build bunkers and live in the mountains happily ever after. But this is completely different story. Sorry for the excurse…
My point was that for those we care, we don’t need a network to keep us in touch. And knowing what the other person is exactly doing in every minute while he or she is away from us doesn’t necessarily mean that you are in touch. Actually, not at all.
So, now I tell you why I am angry- because I realize how those social networks turn us into selfish human beings. Selfish or lonely!?! Or both- which in turn is AGAINST our HUMAN NATURE….and against the nature…but that’s another issue… I am angry with myself starting a blog, which nobody would ever read anyway, but I am still writing it, because I guess I still have nobody to share with. Oh, no biggy, I have 300- something friends on facebook. And who can I call now? Who can I tell what is on my mind? Noone! Hey, but I can still put it on my status. The chance is that at lest 10 people will “like” it. So what?
Besides, it’s never what it looks like. Another example: Two weeks ago here in Paris I bumped into a friend that I used to stay together with for a while in London two years ago. It was a really “nice” coincidence. I kind of had an idea of what she’s been doing lately thanks to her status updates- lots of travelling to exotic places, lots of nice jobs and so on. She seemed to have a life to die for. So I meet her, we go for coffee, have a nice chat and than she tells me how she broke up with this guy she really loved, how she broke her knee and couldn’t walk and work for 6 months and some other not so “cool” stuff that happened to her. So, while I’ve been really really happy for her and maybe just a bit envy (let'a call things their names) it turns out that she might use a friend or someone to talk to…
Of course, for those we care we don’t need any social networks. Our closest friends, our family-we know how they are doing, we still talk on the phone or occasionally meet. And this is my point- our human nature. We are social creatures; we need to communicate, to keep in touch. Underline IN TOUCH. Very nice figure of speech, isn’t it? Because keeping in touch is basically, if you try to imagine it, being close to each other, so that you won’t lose the “touch”. And as it turns out blogging and networking, except it’s for business or on a specific topic, doesn’t REALLY gives you an idea about…well there is no REAL TOUCH.
Ok I admit- social networking has lots of good sides too. That’s why I’m still in all those creepy virtual communities. Especially for people who travel. And especially nowadays, when everybody travels. The woman I am staying with here, she is a hairdresser. And yes, she travels for work too. She goes every two months to… I forgot which country in Africa to make the hair of some apparently very important guy who is flying in his hairdresser from Paris every two months. I’m sorry for repeating myself but I just want to make sure that you got my point- a HAIRSTYLE!!! What about the environment, the ozone layer, the we -are –running- out –of- natural-resource-concern, the pollution, the let’s-donate-1-euro-every-month-for-a –hungry-child-in-Africa? Yeah, what about all those things. I’ll tell you what- we wouldn’t need them if they had good hairdressers and chiefs and probably dentists in Africa. And I have these very same thoughts every time when I get booked for a job in another city- isn’t there anybody who can do it there. Don’t get me wrong, I love travelling. But can somebody more responsible please care about our planet a bit. I know we can’t ban people flying around, but if there is a big flood the Maldives will be the first place on Earth to disappear, and I really want go there for my honeymoon some years from now, eventually. So I really hope the Earth can stand us and our irresponsible wishes for a bit longer. I’d go there by boat if that is what it takes. Than we can all build bunkers and live in the mountains happily ever after. But this is completely different story. Sorry for the excurse…
My point was that for those we care, we don’t need a network to keep us in touch. And knowing what the other person is exactly doing in every minute while he or she is away from us doesn’t necessarily mean that you are in touch. Actually, not at all.
So, now I tell you why I am angry- because I realize how those social networks turn us into selfish human beings. Selfish or lonely!?! Or both- which in turn is AGAINST our HUMAN NATURE….and against the nature…but that’s another issue… I am angry with myself starting a blog, which nobody would ever read anyway, but I am still writing it, because I guess I still have nobody to share with. Oh, no biggy, I have 300- something friends on facebook. And who can I call now? Who can I tell what is on my mind? Noone! Hey, but I can still put it on my status. The chance is that at lest 10 people will “like” it. So what?
