Conversation, Community, and Facebook

[innerSpaceman]

I think the time I liked best was when the LoT was in its heyday, lots of people interacted in person, lots of people used Live Journal, and Facebook was used by some college kids on the east coast.

Nothing can replace real life interaction, though Facebook has sadly done that for so many. But that being said and observed, real life interaction would rarely produce the kind of "conversation" typical of the LoT. Too much fun was going on. And even the level of thoughtful conversation on the LoT would not impart the depth of personal sharing found on El Jay. So the three in combination had a very powerful effect, for me, in grokking my friends to a wonderful degree.


It's a pale, pale shadow world now. Even though my facebook feed is very active - I can't say I've gotten to know anyone better through the years there like I was able to say of years here. If someone tweets a lot, I daresay I could get to know them better through their tweets than through Facebook. But I grew weary of Twitter and have not been to my Twitter feed in weeks. I'm pretty sure I've quit.


Barely anyone el jays anymore. Even if people continue to blog, doing it at separate sites defeats the point of mutual sharing, imo.


And whether true for anyone else here or not, I myself barely see anyone from the LoT days in the real world anymore.


I would not describe my life as bored or unhappy at all, and it's hardly less busy socially than it's always been. Yet, I confess I miss the plethora of different fun and friend stuff that used to fill my calendar. I miss the days when the LoT was more robust. But change is change. What can ya do?



Monthly salon is a neet idea. I liked when we tried it a few years back. But we managed, what? three of them?

[CoasterMatt]

I like watching car crashes out the window.

[3894]

Originally Posted by lashbear

All the salons should be held in Australia. Mary Poppins said so.

Wisconsin. We have copious amounts of cheese. Also beer.

As for FB, I kind of loathe it.

You I like.

[flippyshark]

Facebook was dynamic and interesting while I was adding people and catching up with long lost pals. But now that my list has pretty much stabilized, the experience is kind of stagnant. I see variations on the same cynical eCards, simplistic political memes and pretty nature scenes with slogans every day. (I don't get tired of the cute animals, though. Not ever.) I tolerate the same handful of prolific religious zealots and tea party ranters who inhabit my feed (and with whom I don't engage, because they're built-in commenters tend to dogpile, and there's nothing to be gained from that.) A few times a day, though, I come across something redemptive - usually because it is personal, something from someone's actual life instead of reposted junk from some other page insisting that I LIKE it or be shown up for the heartless bastard I must be.

Facebook is mostly a superficial experience.

LoT brought me friends from a group of strangers. Facebook hasn't done that much at all. (I've tried.)

Once Facebook fades from relevance, maybe the next big thing will somehow have the potential for longer, more meaningful discussion that forum threads make possible.

I don't want to moderate, though.

[Morrigoon]

FB is fine for the sort of short attention span moments I can peek at it between Sesame Street clips (yes, the Princess has claimed the majority of screen time on Mommy's laptop) or spare between distractions, but I much prefer the long-form discussions on LoT, and more importantly, the fact that things stick around and history is searchable, so discussions CAN continue for extended lengths of time, enabling us to be more thoughtful, dig up supporting links, etc. things disappear way too quickly on FB.

Unfortunately on my part, it's difficult to contribute meanigfully, because I so rarely have a moment long enough (like now) to participate, and even then am usually stuck typing with one hand way off to the side (can you tell someone is asleep in my lap?), or on my phone, also not conducive to rapid typing.

But I'm reading your posts, folks!

[Strangler Lewis]

Megadittoes for most of what Flippy said. I would add that I tend not to jump into some of the right wing Facebook threads or, relatedly, Facebook comment threads on our local newspaper because I read through some of the posts, and I sometimes get the impression that some of the folks might have little better to do than find out where I live and come and shoot me.

I seldom get that feeling here.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

If we all don't get enough love out of Facebook, why aren't we here that much?

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

I seldom get that feeling here.

Key word: "seldom"

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Still lurking (remotely from USVI)

[€uroMeinke]

I think flippy had a good observation in that you really don't meet people on FB, rather you meet people in other situations and then add them to FB.The only place to "meet" is through comments of mutual friends, but unlike a message board or live journal, you really get no insight about those other people.

Why we aren't here? I think FB still is the fastfood of online interactions, it's easy to skim and make non-committal responses and feel like you're actually connecting with the people you know. It's too easy.

But I definitely feel a gap - perhaps those folks a google can figure that one out and make us google + again?