Can I just say…

I am “on” Twitter. It’s a bit hard for me to describe my approach to Twitter and what I “tweet” there. Almost always it really *is* “what’s happening”. Some tweets are more cryptic than others. I love when the Long Suffering Cat Herding Person actually *looks* at Twitter and wonders what the heck I was talking about. Like the burning chicken tweet. “What were you doing last night?” In the beginning, Twitter was where I kept up with family “from a distance”. I knew my 20-something kids were okay and doing well without actually having to have awkward conversations with them. I still do that but Twitter has gotten rather quiet on the family front. I *have* discovered that it is a fantastic way to follow news and current events. I think it works even better for me than an old-fashioned paper newspaper and I have frequently kvetched about the demise of our own Planet Ann Arbor Snooze, so I guess I have moved on.

And then there is Facebook. I reluctantly joined facebook a couple of years ago ONLY because an A-squared friend was in the hospital and her family was updating via facebook. She was my first friend. I am now friends with just about everybody in my family (Fin, MacMu, Courtois), a couple members of the McNott clan, a bunch of Soo High 1972-ers (or thereabouts), a few A-squared friends, and some in a few other small categories (you know who you are). I try to post *real* updates on FB. Sometimes just what I’m doing, often to let family members know where I am, etc. I do not use apps on facebook and if I ever start posting political rants on there, you will know I am well into Alzheimer’s Disease! But, if I do, please don’t unfriend me because I have yet to unfriend someone because of their political opinions.

LinkedIn? I don’t quite get it. I know it is supposed to be a “professional” networking site. But what? I guess it is supposed to be a way to network to find job opportunities? But I’m not sure that would ever work for me. I am not a schmoozer. My method for finding a job is to fall backwards into one. (Note that I DO NOT recommend that method.) But I do not schmooze (unless there is booze). I do not schmooze at parties or coffee shops or even at my own work. And I do not schmooze (exactly) on the internet. Er, well, I sometimes schmooze at coffee shops but that’s usually with people who are blowing snot-rockets out of their nose or whatever. Sorry about the visual.

A few years ago I was at an internet usability conference and I was in a session run by a company in town that is known for their innovative approach to software development. It was a great session but I had to speak out at one point. They were talking about who would use what social network and the presenter actually made a blanket statement that 24-year-olds would be using LinkedIn because they would be looking for jobs. I challenged that and *then* I texted my own then 24-year-old: Are you on Linked In? Answer (30 seconds later): No. I reported that response and it threw the [wonderful] presenter off just a bit and I have ever since I have regretted that. I had no intention to be a rabble-rouser. I just didn’t think that you could stereo-type who uses what social network. And I still don’t. I think we all use them differently.

Google+? Not sure about that one yet…

One Response to “Can I just say…”

  1. Margaret Says:

    I am on LinkedIn but have no idea what my user name/password are, so I never get on there. It seems like a clunker to me. I’ve been trying google + but it feels like an empty FB to me.