Have you heard this kinda of rhetoric?
- ‘Sorry I’m not doing Facebook yet, I am focussing on LinkedIn‘
- ‘Oh, Facebook is so bad, relationships become so superficial’
- ‘I don’t have time for Facebook’
From my perspective:
#1 people, ‘You are missing out’
#2 people, ‘Your relationships are probably superficial anyway’
#3 People, ‘It’s worth it’
I was talking with a psychologist friend the other day about how great Facebook is, and she really ‘got it’. I recounted my experiences of about 6 months ago.
Catching up with a friend I haven’t seen for a while at a party:
F: ‘ How ya goin?’
J: ‘Good how are you’
F: ‘Fine thanks’
J: ‘I’m about to have a baby’
F: ‘I know, it’s on your Facebook’
J: ‘Doh!’
Then today, I met a friend I haven’t seen for a while:
F: ‘Hey, How was your presentation last night, did you get good feedback?
J: Great thanks! (I think to myself - ‘ah, he read it on my Facebook’). The group was really interested and loved the eye tracker. How was your lunch yesterday?
F: Awesome, at such and such and we ate…’
What happens now is that a lot of the small talk is done away with and is relegated to the realm of Facebook or other social networks. Technology is helping us to have richer and more focused catch ups with friends and colleagues who we know well. Not to mention keeping up to date with what they are doing whilst we are busy with work and family.
Then on the other hand, it means that we can be lazy! We don’t have to catch up with our friends to find out what they are doing! Plus small talk is fun!
I’m an advocate of the former, what do you think?