Comments on: You guys all suck

By: nonconformist

nonconformist — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:03:25 +0000

why do you give a shit if someone youdon’t know reads what you post? To me that’s as futile an act as being a part of one of these online social networking sites.This article is probably the biggest waste of time i have ever encountered. stop being a loser

By: Justen

Justen — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:39:12 +0000

I share your distaste for social networking but I don’t think interacting with people over any communication media is somehow less valid or more emotionally safe. You might as well stop writing letters and talking on the phone too. It’s just another way to interact with friends, and I doubt if online acquaintances are any more or less casual or less likely to become true friends than real life ones, barring physical seperation; still more than a few people from before the age of the internet built long-lasting and highly valued relationships with pen pals on the other side of the country or even the world.
I suppose that’s what social networking is, it’s like digital pen pals.

By: brandaggio

brandaggio — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:06:17 +0000

Friends are the people who you can count on one hand, two if you are extremely fortunate and blessed.

Any list or page that says otherwise is just plain fiction, no matter what delusions the page owner/creator/author may be under.

By: busy

busy — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:22:09 +0000

I think this article missed the mark. Basically, you think Social Media is kind of lame. Personally, I agree to the point that I don’t have much use for it most of the time, but I don’t think much of a deeper statement can be made than that.

This article reminds me of the people that don’t like modern music, but instead of just saying they don’t like it they feel obligated to try and convince people that it’s not “real” music because of how it’s made.

By: John_Betong

John_Betong — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:01:35 +0000

Reminds me of a Billy Connolly quotation

Billy calls the internet ‘The Great Anorak in the Sky’.

‘You know why those people are on the internet’? he asks. ‘Because you wouldn’t speak to them in the pub, that’s why!’

Billy has sent one email in his whole life, to Eric Idle. He knows there’s a reply for him somewhere out there in the electronic cosmos, but he’s b******d if he can remember how to retrieve it”.

By: bc

bc — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:17:22 +0000

I thought the same as you for a while. But now I dont agree with you, at least not 100%. I use social networking and then still pick up the phone to talk to people. I go to meetings online and in person. The format that I use to socialize and network my business online or in person dont have to be independant of each other.

As far as exposing my views online, I use the same filter that I would use in any group setting, so I wont regret any comments later. The filter doesnt always work perfectly, but that is not specific to the delivery format.

That being said, it makes no sense to rely soley upon one or the other method for networking. Some people do hide behind a screen name. Personaly I am not afraid of transparency and being on the net. :)

By: Laine

Laine — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:41:52 +0000

I agree to a point. I met my fiance on a blogging site and we’ve been together for three years now. Since I was in Cali and he in England at the time we met, I doubt we would have met any other way.

Social Networking has enabled me to meet a lot of people from all over the world who I find interesting, but I wouldn’t call most of them friends. I don’t think it’s stupid to connect with people this way, but I think it’s important to expend more effort on keeping your real friendships going.

People who have hundreds of friends on sites like FaceBook make me laugh. It’s like a popularity contest to see who can have the most ‘friends’.

Personally, I’d rather hang out with my real offline friends. After all, most of them really know me, and like me anyway!

By: ashleyk

ashleyk — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:16:12 +0000

James, i thought i was the only one (and from the majority of posts, we are the minority.)

I call these people i’ve met once or twice “friends” when i accept that facebook invite. But I don’t know them, and they don’t know me. I’m not saying there aren’t people who can’t have real relationships and stay connect through places like facebook, i’m just not one of them, i find it an empty experience.

By: Wolf_22

Wolf_22 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:31:43 +0000

Interesting analogy, btw (~ road rage). It’s exactly like that…

By: cob

cob — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:54:01 +0000

Great read. Couldn’t more.

As a father with young children I desperately hope they do not lose touch with the reality a relationship via broadband will never replace the real thing.

The problem is, as mentioned many times above, social networking is just too easy.