Over at the New York Times tech blog today, a story was published concerning the 18-24 year old demographic using less and less e-mail, and more and more social networking. In fact, some have gone as far to describe e-mail as on its way out.
Now this raised some red flags in my camp, because it brings up another point of contention with me concerning how we use social networking tools to communicate. Being of the older demographic, but yet of the generation that first embraced e-mail, I still use it quite frequently, as the nytimes article also suggests. I actually find Facebook to be very ineffective in communicating really much of anything with friends other than visual gags and disposable talk ( which of course is fine, I am as silly as the next person, but all the time!?!) .
So the question then is, where do you stand on your communication platform? How does e-mail allow better communication versus Facebook or vice-versa?
You'd need to get into more specifics with me on the mechanical differences email affords as opposed to facebook's messaging and wall services; essentially, they provide the same services, just different platforms. I mean, that's like saying I'd rather you talk to me using your landline phone as opposed to your mobile phone. All we need is an immediate platform tool (or efficient bottomline) of communication. I find that too many in the ivory towers of academe refuse to embrace alternate modes of interaction via social networking sites or other new media modalities merely because they do not understand them or think it will associate them with the silliness of videos and other rhetoric that do pervade the chaos of Internet Communication. But I say, ANY way of reaching students works for me.
ReplyDeleteBut what if the bulk of your friends do not have Facebook, but yet have e-mail? I mean ,its not an argument as large as a digital divide socioeconomically, but there is a technology gap here that is suggested by the article, a gap which continues to promote of course a culture of cool over anything else. I agree with you that the posting nature of Facebook is essentially the same as e-mail, and the immediacy of the possibility of social commentary is only outmatched by Twitter, which may just be then best example of cross-generational applicability that has yet been devised.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to students, any social networking via technology is a good thing, but we need to find some other resources ( Livejournal, wordpress, etc.) and expose them to these applications and show them that the possibilities exist outside of Facebook, which, let's admit, we have all become very, very attached to, which is dangerous.