While my brother Andrew and I were both still young enough to be concerned with spelling grades, rather than MLA citations, while the life expectancy of our hand-caught, bucket-tamed tadpoles was of more concern than that of our relationships, while the tooth fairy still left notes in strangely familiar handwriting under our pillows, I came to realize that he and I share a somewhat uncommon bond. We're close, and that is how it has been for almost my entire life. After he left home to attend college in New Mexico, several states away, it was difficult to adjust to the sudden distance between us. Over time, however, we've learned to manage staying in touch through variety of methods. For a long time, those methods did not include facebook. He chose to delete his about a year after moving away from home, and has only recently decided to rejoin. Upon his return, Andrew published a veritable facebook manifesto via status update. This manifesto outlines his philosophy toward the use of social networking, and details the parameters with which he aims to use it. His manifesto contains the following clause:
"In using facebook, I will attempt to combat the tendency towards technological thinking, the symptoms of which we find in the loss of patient thinking, real listening, slow reading, and honest engagement with the physical universe."
I really admire the sentiment evident in this part of Andrew's declaration, and I think that his position towards facebook use is laudable. Although an easy source of connectivity, facebook can easily become an overwhelming void that lacks anything meaningful but remains the cornerstone of communication. According to McLuhan,
"In his amusement born of rational detachment of his own situation, Poe's mariner in 'The Descent into the Maelstrom' staved off disaster by understanding the action of the whirlpool. His insight offers a possible stratagem for understanding our predicament, our electrically-configured whirl. " (McLuhan 150)
Facebook can easily become such a whirlpool. If we do not remain objective, we can become caught up in the rapidity of its ideas and the deceptively easy method it offers to stay in touch. Without a conscious effort, facebook can quickly spin its way into a maelstrom of information that leaves the viewer with a false sense of fulfillment. However, as noted by McLuhan, if we can remain cognizant of the ease with which facebook leads to superficial connections, then we may stave off the shallowness and instead seek significant links with those we consider to be our friends, in the truest sense of the word.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to what you said about sharing a bond with your brother when you guys were kids. Connecting when we were kids was more on a personal level, we talked face to face more then we wrote on each other's walls. Everything back then seemed a lot simpler, we didn't have facebook and such to make connecting to one another on a superficial level. I agree with your view of how facebook can "spin into a maelstrom of information...", people can go on facebook and write on 10 different peoples wall and leave short messages in less then 30 minutes. Also facebook lets us see what our friends are saying to each other, we can use that to stay updated with our friends without even talking to them. It makes me think about how facebook has really changed how we connect and stay in touch with our friends. They may be connecting to a bunch of their friends, but it is done somewhat shallowly. Although I agree that facebook can have plenty of superficial connections, I don't think all of them are. Some people do post meaningful things that make us think. Your brother's posts definitely made you think which is a good use of facebook. You made some really good points and I liked reading your thoughts.
I hope you and your brother are still close.