People who know me know I know a lot of people. I used to collect business cards and index them. I could build a pretty intricate picture of a community rather quickly and work with it. That was the way dad did it, granddad did it, and it worked pretty well for me (thanks to Ironman’s Robert Downey). Text from DJCline.com
At some point I kept long lists on personal computers. I was always wary of contact list software because it was hard to move data out of them to new applications or platforms. The results are word processing files that are now at least two decades old migrated from floppy disks to CD-ROMS, DVDs and flash drives. It’s fun to see the kinds of contact information evolve from names and mailing addresses to fax numbers to e-mail and cell phone numbers to Twitter accounts. Every once in awhile I’ll print a hard copy in case everything collapses and I need to send a letter by way of Kevin Costner in “The Postman.” I can’t imagine what I would say, but I’m sure it would be funny. Text from DJCline.com
The recent social networking technology seemed superfluous to me. I interact with people on a personal level and it all seemed so contrived. It looked to me like people weren’t paying attention to print, radio and TV ads anymore but communicating directly with one another on the Internet. Businesses wanted to inject themselves in the conversation again and start selling them things they don’t need. Even worse they wanted to know everything about people to waste even more of their time. Text from DJCline.com
Businesses came up with sillier names like social media and social graph that didn’t help sell me on it. They said it brought friends and families closer together but with a price. Imagine writing a letter to your grandmother and pasting a coupon for adult diapers in the middle of it. Now mail a copy to the diaper company. That is the business model for social networking and I’m sure your grandmother will be thrilled. I also thought it was the height of bad parenting to put family pictures on the net. These new businesses will tell you young people don’t care about privacy, but I think there are infants today who will resent their bear rug pictures on the internet when they are running for mayor. Text from DJCline.com
I did reluctantly participate in professional online networks. Even so, I don’t need to know everything about someone. In cloud computing there is the concept of buying information by the drink. I have discovered that much of the data online about people is inaccurate or irrelevant. I want to know if I can do business with someone, I do not need to know about their life outside of work. Friendships inevitably form but usually after establishing the trust of a business transaction. This seems to the exact opposite of social networking where you are supposed to befriend people first. BTW: The word is “befriend”, to me “friend” is still a noun. Text from DJCline.com
So as I proceed into social networking please remember that I see you as a human being and not a piece of software. I will treat you as if we were standing face to face and not on Facebook. Text from DJCline.com
Copyright 2009 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj in Commentary []