Relax guys, I’m not dead, I’m just not on Facebook. Yes, I am one of those people. You’ve heard of us, you may even know one of us. And contrary to what you may think, we are alive, we are happy and if you’re like me, and still have your Platinum Facebook Virginity, you really have no idea what the big deal is. Let’s take a look at what that life has been like.
There’s always been the biggies that have impressed humankind. Sunrises and sunsets, meteors, mountain vistas, fireworks. These are kind of the old guard pantheon of what jiggles our juices. But I’m wondering, as so many thinkers do these days with regards to how our modern tech is changing us, how today’s technology and instant communicative abilities has changed both what we find impressive and how our level of impressiveness is in response, to put it rather lumpy and awkwardly.
Remember with me the time spent in between work and school and travelling. Think more specifically about the time spent without a smartphone in your hand. What did you do? Like actually truly do with the time spent before (insert 73 different apps here)? It’s something I’ve been thinking back on recently.
My question is, what is pushing the need to put something in the comment box at all? What drives this desire? I think everyone has the same general stereotype of what the prototypical serial commenter looks like, but I’m not particularly concerned with them. The real trolls of the world are probably not spending their energy on some obscure article unearthed by Flipboard that has generated only seven comments. Those trolls have actual real trolling to do.
As most people know, Google (and of course Wikipedia and other online resources) is an incredibly powerful resource. And if you know how to use it properly to dig into the layers of information, amazing depth of understanding on any topic can be created in a relatively short period of time. In my myopic naivety I assumed that everyone would be taking advantage of this insane new toy and searching for Fun Facts during all of their spare time. As it turns out, this seems to not be a pastime for the masses. Who knew? Probably everyone except myself.
