Comments on: Social Media is Not about Technology http://www.jetsetcitizen.com/technology/social-media-is-not-about-technology/ Celebrating Global Citizens in Pursuit of an Excellent Life Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:20:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Neil http://www.jetsetcitizen.com/technology/social-media-is-not-about-technology/comment-page-1/#comment-38 Neil Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:39:16 +0000 http://jetsetcitizen.com/?p=146#comment-38 I use one of the big social networking sites and, as an ex-pat, it has certainly made a difference to the way I communicate with people. I've lost touch with a number of good people over the years mainly because I was never any good at 'banging off a quick email'. For me, emails to friends feel more like letters. I care about the content and my writing style, I want the reader to feel that I've taken some time over it. And sometimes, when I'm busy, I just don't have the time or energy to spend on such pursuits. While I may send similarly long messages to people on my social network site from time to time, I don't feel 'obliged' to do so. When I see that someone has just run a marathon, or had a baby, it feels much more acceptable to write a short two-line comment congratulating them. In this way, it's much easier to simply touch base and maintain contact with people spread out across the world. Social network sites also make it much easier to keep a tab on what your friends are up to. You discover things you didn't know you had in common, even with people you may have known for years, and sometimes this can lead to collaboration on projects or simply the sharing of knowledge for each other's mutual benefit. I use one of the big social networking sites and, as an ex-pat, it has certainly made a difference to the way I communicate with people. I’ve lost touch with a number of good people over the years mainly because I was never any good at ‘banging off a quick email’. For me, emails to friends feel more like letters. I care about the content and my writing style, I want the reader to feel that I’ve taken some time over it. And sometimes, when I’m busy, I just don’t have the time or energy to spend on such pursuits.

While I may send similarly long messages to people on my social network site from time to time, I don’t feel ‘obliged’ to do so. When I see that someone has just run a marathon, or had a baby, it feels much more acceptable to write a short two-line comment congratulating them. In this way, it’s much easier to simply touch base and maintain contact with people spread out across the world.

Social network sites also make it much easier to keep a tab on what your friends are up to. You discover things you didn’t know you had in common, even with people you may have known for years, and sometimes this can lead to collaboration on projects or simply the sharing of knowledge for each other’s mutual benefit.

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