Social Media & Whatever Happened to the Class of '65
It was a little over two years ago when I first signed up for Facebook and then wrote about my initial experiences and impressions here. At that time, I admitted I had little idea what was I was doing or what it meant to be so affiliated. However, I also reported that, quite rapidly, as a result of Facebook and Twitter, I felt “less alone” in the world.
Time has marched on, and I believe I have a much better handle on the whole social-media scene now than I did then. Over the last couple years, I’ve tweeted and Facebooked (yes, I used that as a verb) much more than anything else I’ve done online, including posting essays here. My level of online activity really hasn’t diminished at all … it just changed direction. The biggest reason, I suppose, is that Facebook and Twitter are much more interactive: there is simply more two-way communication with other people than there ever was with this blog. A lot of the time, this site has been like a very long (and sometimes boring) lecture; Twitter and Facebook have the capacity to be more conversation-like.
Not everyone is with me here, though … as I am repeatedly reminded. There are tons of people my age who remain as uninterested in online social networking as I once was, and totally stay away from such activity. In fact, I may be the oldest person among my (as of today) 657 followers on Twitter and my 107 friends on Facebook. Earlier this year, I learned that just 7% of all Facebook users are in the 55-65 age bracket (see graph).
So, it would appear that my level of online activity just might put me in the top few percent, or even fraction of one percent, of my contemporaries in terms of social-media savvy.
Apparently, I’m not alone in recognizing my relative uniqueness.
Last weekend was the 45-year reunion of my high school class (in Rice Lake, Wisconsin). I did not attend the gathering because of its rather inconvenient timing (this was the first time we’ve ever held a reunion other than in the summer months). However, I still happened to play a part in the events of last Saturday evening. During the MC’d program after dinner, it was proposed that a class website be set up as we all do the five-year countdown toward our 50th (gasp!) reunion in 2015. One former classmate suggested that the best person for the job would be ME, and, by acclamation, I was elected to make such magic happen.
Hence, being so honored (?), I wrote a few emails, tried to figure out what the heck the expectations were, and just generally spent some time figuring out what we (that is, I) might do.
My decision, supported by those I’ve consulted with, was to construct a group for us all on Facebook, using their just-released (four days ago) “new groups” feature. It is now up and running. (I don’t waste time: give me an assignment, and I do it!) Two days ago I sent out an email to everyone (who submitted an email address to our reunion organizers) announcing the availability of the new group (with some simple instructions about joining Facebook). Right now, we have thirteen members. (I think we have about 200 surviving classmates at this time.)
So, now there’s a small core of us waiting to see how many former classmates will join us in this social network. (I think it would be nice, perhaps amazing, if this experiment actually works!)
Soundtrack Suggestion
When I think back on all the crap I’ve learned in high school
It’s a wonder I can think at all…
(“Kodachrome” – Simon & Garfunkel)
Update on October 11, 2010:
I should acknowledge…
Of course, the title of this entry is somewhat a rip-off of the title of the 1976 book What Really Happened to the Class of ’65? by Michael Medved and David Wallechinsky.
My Online Life
So, what have I been doing with my time? As you can tell from my absence here: certainly not blogging.
Perhaps I’ve given up my online life altogether?
Hardly.
I continue to be seduced by Apple’s new iPad, but, to date, I haven’t touched one. (I’m staying totally away from any Apple Store for now!) I am intrigued that I could add this trendy gadget to my collection of toys, namely my MacBook Pro and iPhone, and have them all synched together through MobileMe. It would be the TechnoMonk thing to do, after all.
Just so you know: what I have been doing is completely re-building my web presence at jimarnold.us. I published the new look a couple of days ago, and I would dearly love to take advantage of your proof-reading skills. I invite you to take a look. Let me know what you think.
Sign In, Please
“Where is that pesky TechnoMonk, anyway?”
(I know you’ve been asking yourself that question.)
The answer: truth be told, I have a split personality when it comes to my online identity these days. And this condition seems to be taking it toll.
You know, of course, first there was an introductory version of TechnoMonk’s Musings. Then along came this incarnation. Later on, I added a Flickr photo-sharing site. Eventually, last year, I set up a Facebook page and then started microblogging on Twitter.
Something, eventually, had to give. And, if you’ve followed along, you know that the frequency of my posts here has diminished.
My best advice at this point is a quote from that old TV show “What’s My Line?” ... you know, the part where John Charles Daly would say “enter and sign in, please.” Over there, in the right hand column of this page, there is now a section called “Subscribe.” If you sign yourself up in that little rectangular box, you will be sent an email every time I post something new here.
I’m not going away. I’m just making life slightly more manageable.
Thanks for understanding.
Soundtrack Suggestion
I’ve got a feeling, a feeling deep inside
Oh yeah, Oh yeah. (that’s right.)
I’ve got a feeling, a feeling I can’t hide
Oh no. no. Oh no! Oh no.
Yeah! Yeah! I’ve got a feeling. Yeah!
(“I’ve Got A Feeling” – The Beatles)
25 More Things
Just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote seven (little known?) things about myself here in response to Pistachio’s meme-tag post. Now, yet another version of the game has overtaken the internet, this time on Facebook. This variation calls for individuals so tagged to produce a list of “25 things” about themselves.
Robert Lanham, of salon.com, writes that he was originally irritated by this new meme, but has since changed his mind. He now says, “once you stop being annoyed you realize that, at its best, it’s one of the more compelling -- and, yes, even oddly inspiring -- wastes of time to hit the Web in years.”
I was eventually tagged, decided to participate, and posted a list on my Facebook page yesterday. Here is what I wrote, offered here in slightly edited form.
Here are the original Facebook rules (meant to be published at the top of your “25 things” list):
Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you. (To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people [in the right hand corner of the app] then click publish.)
Please note (about this post): caveat lector. It’s very doubtful that I could write “25 things” about myself that are superficial or humorous. You may find that they are uncomfortably revealing and/or mildly entertaining. If you’re going to go ahead and read more, brace yourself...
1. My ex sister-in-law once said that every time she heard the song “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” she thought of me.
2. Which was pretty perceptive, since I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression all my life.
3. I’ve never had what you would call a successful long-term relationship. I was married for ten years, but it wasn’t a good place for me to be. During the marriage, I became addicted to Valium (for over seven years). Just to numb me to the pain.
4. After the marriage, I became an alcoholic. (Well, sort of true. I was probably an alcoholic from the time I took my first drink...at about age 16.) My last drink, though, was on August 13, 1983. I’m very proud of my 25-plus years of sobriety.
5. When I was five years old and in kindergarten, I rode the bus to school every day. One day, I didn’t get off at my elementary school, but stayed on the bus until the end of the line. Just to see where it went. It resulted in one exasperated bus driver. And a phone call to my parents, of course.
6. Ms. Anderson and Ms. Howard (can’t remember now if they were “Miss” or “Mrs.”) were my second and third grade teachers, respectively. They were primarily responsible for nurturing and encouraging my early interests in reading and math.
7. My first girlfriend’s name was Betty T. This was in sixth grade. She had a twin brother. And their father was the superintendent of schools. I hear she’s still alive.
8. During the 2006-07 academic year, I had an insufferable bully as my supervisor. I’ve never been all that good around abusive people, and this time it almost killed me. The more I stood up for myself, the more abusive the relationship got and the more physically sick I became. To this day, I think I dramatically let down all the people who worked for me and believed I could be an agent of change.
9. I was ordered, by a physician, to take a month off work during January 2007. I was in so much physical pain at the time, I wished to die; I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life on disability. That I’m now recovering is a monumental testimonial to the resilience of the human body (and spirit).
10. If I could make a living from my writing and photography, I would. Those are my true passions.
11 Given my love of books and reading, though, I probably should have been a librarian. (It was a librarian who tagged me to write these 25 things.)
12. When I was in grade school, I was drew a cow with a purple crayon. Which was harshly judged by my teacher. Everyone knows that cows aren’t purple. I was devastated. I felt like I’d had the crap beaten out of me.
13. The most elusive thing in my life is love. Or at least being loved back.
14. What I want most is to be understood.
15. I was once told, with intense genuineness, “Jim, I’ve never met anyone like you!” Which was both exhilarating and dismaying.
16. I have an enlarged prostate (BPH; benign prostatic hyperplasia). I’ve had 2 to 3 blood tests every year for the last 12 years to monitor my PSA (prostate specific antigen, the screening test for prostate cancer). It keeps rising. I keep the data on an Excel spreadsheet, and furnish my urologist with a least-squares plot of the line every time I see him. My last number was slightly alarming.
17. I’m not nearly afraid of death as I am of dying slowly and painfully.
18. The two most favorite weekends of my life were (1) at a rented cabin, by Lincoln City on the Oregon coast, during one Christmas, with J; and (2) at a borrowed cabin, north of Florence on the Oregon coast, one spring, with C.
19. As comfortable as I am living in the Bay Area, I am homesick for Oregon every single day.
20. I will never be a parent in this lifetime. If I had had kids, though, I couldn’t have done better than T, B, and R. Three of my favorite people on earth.
21. I would do anything for T, B or R. Anything. All they would ever need to do is ask.
22. Same goes for my good friend V.
23. I have written a [this] blog for over three years and never really developed a readership. Those that once read, have stopped. Interesting that I persist. Crazy, perhaps.
