Sunday, December 28, 2008

Facebook, Twitter revisited.

Smith, J. (2008, Dec. 18). Facebook now growing by over 600,000 users a day - and new engagement stats. Inside Facebook. http://www.insidefacebook.com/2008/12/16/facebook-now-growing-by-over-600000-users-a-day-and-new-engagement-stats/. Accessed 12-08.

Helzerman's Odd Bits. (2008, Dec. 25). Facebook accounts hijacked to send spam in phishing scheme. http://helzerman.com/oddbits/1407. Accessed 12-08.

Sitting at a laptop during the break, I check in to FB again and notice dozens of friends are popping up, becoming active, adding friends, writing a new status every day, etc. I forget how to check in to CESL's group (I'm a fan of CESL) because it's not obviously linked from my profile; I'm not savvy or adept at finding these things. The lightning speed at which FB gathers people's activity makes me pause. Why am I hesitant to tell this private company my deepest inner thoughts? Not sure; I'd tell blogger (Google) any of them.

It radically changes the world's social spheres, and one of the biggest ways is with its chat. It's always there, at the bottom; sometimes I'm "offline" and sometimes I'm "on," but sometimes I don't even notice and somebody pops me a note. It's interesting, how I can just start talking to any of my friends, any time. And I do. My sister, an old friend in Scotland, a student, my daughter, my son; I've had several long conversations over the break, now that I can afford the time.

This alone makes chat more accessible, more mainstream, more ordinary, less seedy, less suspicious. An interesting social shift.

"Twitter is a fad, but Facebook is a way of life." I encountered this quote somewhere, just recently; don't remember the source right offhand. I don't know if I agree. Twitter is unique in its own way, and has caught on strongly with people for whom it has specific and enduring uses. FB has caught on much more widely, with a huge range of people, and is now being found by marketers and spammers of all stripes, though these folks for the most part have not found me, or my corner. It still eludes me, for the most part, how to use FB or Twitter with my classes, though I know others have started, and I have started collecting information on both, just because, ultimately, I know i will.

Facebook bibliography
Twitter bibliography

a happy New Year to all! I'm working on my resolutions; how's this- I resolve not to drown in the current of events. As the Buddhist said to the Christmas shopper: Be the present!

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