commiserating with the Facebook newbies

The strange and happy crew that makes up my sister’s world in Miami recently migrated, en masse, to Facebook.

For a brief period of like three days, every time I logged into Facebook, I would find 2 or 3 friends requests.  And then, just as suddenly as the frenzy began, it ended. What a relief.

Anyway, shortly after that episode, it seems like every update included a public confession that Facebook is crack, and addictive, bla bla bla. You either stay overwhelmingly addicted to the monster, or you master it and check in once every day or two. I’m sorry for those of you who hate me right now for mastering it. I won’t speak of my Plurk addiction just in case your tiny little brains can’t handle the real drug. Oh yes, I am a pusher.

So in my random and often daily blog reading, I came across this blog post about the Facebook is crack addiction. Boys and girls, Bonnie speaks big truths here. It is not for the faint of heart. Read it and weep. You will see yourself in her pain. Remember that admitting the addiction is the first step towards recovery.

I owe my own recovery to the sincere and disdainful mockery and intervention of my children, who pointed out in disgust that Facebook was for college kids, and that I was gross and weird for participating. It irks them that real adults use it for business and pleasure.

To add insult to injury, they won’t even be my friends.

Micro-blogging, social networks, and slackers

Here’s a question for you folks who micro-blog on the likes of Twitter and Plurk, etc., and also have your own blogs. I’m not asking the chicken and egg question–I don’t care if the micro-blogging came first. I am curious to know if the manner in which you approach blogging has changed since you started using the other utilities. Bonnie Gillespie posted a pretty comprehensive observation about her experience that got me thinking. I’ll be delivering a workshop on blogging, micro-blogging, and social utilities in a couple of weeks, and so I am actually posing this as a serious work-related question.

It has not escaped me that work and play are overlapping. I’m curious about how that affects you as well.

I’ve noticed that my own blog, from the original one to this revamped one, has undergone several style changes. At first, it was totally reflective and observational, but I’ve noticed a shift in self-awareness as I have gained (and lost) readers and the content that I now post. There’s no question that I’ve seen some changes.

How have you been affected in your writing?

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