It's not the interNET it's the NETwork

Okay, so this social network thing is very interesting. If you thought social "climbing" was an art form before, I am sure you won't believe what lengths people will go to self-promote in cyberspace. My kids have listed their profiles on Facebook and they say not a day goes by where they don't at least "check in" on their home page. They are constantly updating their pictures content and I guess they are self-promoting to their circle of friends. Yet Facebook hasn't become a substitute for their FtF socialization, they simply regard it as another way of "communicating" with their friends, much like texting, video messaging, and phone calls, AND FtF interaction. These methods are all tools to them, and were it not popular to their group of friends, they wouldn't use them. My son Tommy says that what he likes best about facebook is the asynchronous communication with his friends. They like to keep in touch on their own schedule and don't care if the communication occurs in real time. As I see it, Facebook doesn't make my kids better "connectors" because they are not really looking to grow their circle of friends. They are only interested in "better" connecting with the people they already see and interact with "offline". Perhaps a word we have used earlier in this class fits best those that utilize social networking to self promote: "USERS". A "Social Network User" is as bad as it gets. Call me old-fashioned, but people who need to get somewhere on the backs of their friends, and their friends friends, are losers. They remind me of ex-Olympic gymnast Bubbles Devere. Who is always using somebody to get what she wants for herself. "Call me Bubbles darling, everybody does."