Archive for August 2011
So Many Ways, So Little Time
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, texting… Isn’t it so great to have several ways to communicate and share these days? We’ve come a long way from using primitive methods such as cave paintings and smoke signals, even telephones made with two cans and a string. Thank goodness we don’t have to use Morse code because “S.O.S.” is the only thing I know, which is “. . . _ _ _ . . .”, by the way.
Can you imagine what it would be like to learn from today’s newspaper that yesterday your friend had a delicious turkey sandwich from an obscure restaurant a few blocks from where you live? Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you have to mail a letter to the newspaper editor just to tell her that you like the news about your friend’s delicious turkey sandwich? Oh, and hopefully it will show up in the “Letters to the Editor” column sometime in the next few days if the editor finds it relevant enough.
What if you want to organize a flashmob at the local mall by using hand-delivered private messages or carrier pigeons? And why do a flashmob if you can’t capture your organized chaos of a public performance on some type of medium with moving pictures and sound, then show it to the whole world later to get lots of people to write comments like “The best flashmob ever!” or “Meh. My cats can flashmob better than you”?
The instant gratification of knowing right away what happens now and reacting to it just a few seconds later and sharing your opinion with the rest of the people of the world who would even care to hear your thoughts on the matter is definitely under the mercy of time. Oh, and not just when, as it turns out, but how. We no longer live in a world where news stories are written today and read the next day. Now it’s a matter of how they’re sent and how you get them. Different methods have different purposes, obviously. And the methods also determine the audience and the criticality of your message.
Hmm… audience and criticality? Ok, let me end this post by explaining.
The scenario: someone has car trouble.
Telephone
Hello? Hey Joe. You at your apartment? Good, can you come help? Drove my car into a ditch! Don’t tell mom and dad yet, ok? I’ll tell them later. No, I wasn’t drinking! There was a squirrel…
SMS text
Hi mom. Will b lil late 4 dinner. Kinda stuck right now. Sorry. Gotta get back in the trenches.
Twitter
Great. There goes my earnings from my summer job. #cartrouble #epicfail #ihatesquirrels
Twitter direct message
dm @joeyjedimaster No dude, mom & dad won’t see this. They don’t do Twitter. They’re on FB. Are you on your way here?
Facebook
Busy busy busy! Will this day ever end??
[ 14 minutes ago・Like・Comment・Share ]
Google+
Here’s a picture of my new car… in the ditch and scratched up! BTW my parents don’t know yet so DON’T say anything on Facebook!
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