Fragmented Dot Com

these days i've gotten into this routine where i wake up, wash up, make coffee and breakfast, and while having breakfast i'll be on the laptop for a good hour or so, just to check emails, scan through news, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Plurk. yes, i have become one of those who incorporate these technologies into my life and embrace the usage of social media with much ease. but before you throw me a scornful look, let me share with you my thoughts on them. then you can decide for yourself..

quoting Wikipedia's definition of social media, it is "an online content created by people using highly accessible publishing technologies... a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content... a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues into dialogues and the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers." the beauty of these technologies is its fluidity--it accommodates those who are utilizing it. it could be used for anything the users want to. some people use it for business, like the taco truck that tweets about their location. others use it for political awareness/purposes, like the recent iranian protests and rallies. yet others tweet about their personal lives or to boost their popularity. you'd be surprised how many people actually follow, say, j.t., snoopdog, oprah winfrey etc.

so there. you have those who tweet and follow tweets because it's fun, not to mention it's an effective business tool. informative too. then we have the human touch (well, semi-human touch, considering it's done over the virtual world :P). human beings are essentially social creatures. we like to do things in a group, we like to bond with each other, we crave for intimacy amongst each other (physical and psychological). i wouldn't say i negate the existence of recluses who willingly choose to be away from any social settings; on the contrary, i think they actually accentuate my point. to what percentage of the whole population, i don't know of course. but ultimately, our inherent nature to be intimate to our kind led us to yearn for understanding and love from others. and that's precisely why Twitter and Plurks and all the other social networking sites can flourish.

parallel to this, mobile technology has become an affordable commodity (to some it's still a luxury but to more and more, it's become a necessity), so people start tweeting about their whereabouts, taking pictures of everything they do or eat and post them on facebook. in a way, it's really just a trend. but it's a trend to stay. so why then, you ask, do people out there who scowl at this whole phenomenon?

my dad will be the first to answer that. "it's a waste of time", he'd say. and it's true, i'm not gonna debate on that. heck, he thinks blogging is a waste of time too. "you're exposing too much of your personal life and your thoughts. beware that someone might just use it against you." that's what dad said. maybe. but my argument is, i'm not important enough for anyone to care about suing me for voicing my 2 cents. truth is, no one cares! i tweet about my musings or sometimes even what i'm doing. but really, no one gives a damn. and that's why it feels safe to just throw it out there without much thought. it's like sending out electromagnetic waves into the universe; knowing that it's out there feels good, even though it wouldn't be noticed. as for the time wasting issue, well, all you need is a bit of self control and it won't be a problem anymore. no one's putting a gun at you, nor is there a limit on how many tweets you have to update per day, so just do it at your own pace whenever you feel like it! simple as ABC. :)

now for those who're unfamiliar with plurk (check out my sidebar), it's kind of a social journal, 'your life on the line' sorta thing (it's designed on a chronological platform). you tell people your whereabouts or anything at all. and yes the Wall function in facebook, twitter and plurk fundamentally have the same function. so here comes the confusing part. you might ask, "uhhh. ok if all these sites do the same thing, what's the point of having more than one account? isn't it superfluous?!" yes. and you're right. you don't need all these overlapping sites. whatever for? unless, of course, you use them for different purposes. which is why i have them all and i don't sync them. this is how i (try to) segregate my updates: if i want response from friends, and it's not too personal, it'll go on facebook. if i want to say anything that's personal, say, to tell of my late night cravings, or frustrations, it goes to plurk. anything that's just pure random thoughts and musings go to twitter. yes it does make things more complicated, and a bit of a hassle. but i don't mind it, as do millions other users.

it's no doubt that twitter and other social networking sites have been quite pervasive and will only be more so as time pass by. and there'll always be people who love it and hate it. our lives have become more fragmented than ever, with pieces of us and our creativity going into 140 characters of updates in various websites. but the thing about technology is, it's here to serve us, not the opposite. so why be so wary about the cons so much and hold yourself back to try new things? it's only detrimental to [insert proper word here] if you let it be. wholy schmoly i didn't know i babbled so much on this!!!!! oh well. like anyone cares. :P

asked dad to follow me on twitter the other day. this was what he said me, "so should i update everytime i go pangsai or when i laosai? no one wants to know that lahhhh". -___- and then he pretty much told me to get a life. I HAVE A LIFE daddy!!! hmph.

end of post. sorry to bore you guys. :) if you get to this point, yay! :) and thank you ;)