Am I Becoming Anti-Social?

Up until a few years ago, about as “social” I was on line was going into the occasional geek chat room to talk about the latest Stargate episode. Then I got roped into joining Facebook for the new job I had. I started requesting friends and liking things. I had no clue why I was doing this. It wasn’t long before I was Tweeting, Foursquaring, Digging and whatever else I had to do for my job at the time. Now there is Klout, Google+ and god knows what else.

I don’t have time to do all of these. It is hard enough trying to be on Facebook alone. I am not sure I would be able to tweet if my blog wasn’t automatically posting there. I am not sure what the hell Klout is about or why I have any or what to do with the Klout I have. I don’t think I have dug anything for quite a while and I am not sure where I am supposed to check in on what service so that I can have a political future in a coffee shop.

I don’t really want to join Google + but I am sure that I will end up on there eventually despite my better judgement. To me it is just social overload. There is a car commercial right now, actually a couple of them that reflect my sentiment PERFECTLY! They both have a younger person talking about how they are worried that their parents aren’t social enough. The one commercial has a girl on her computer mocking her parents for having 16 friends while she has over 600 or some nonsense. They then show her parents being out and about biking with friends and then getting into their car. It may be a little different than I am relaying but you get the idea. They are making fun of how people think “being social” is about being online all the time.

I don’t want to be social only on the computer. Yes, I keep in touch with friends and have made new friends because of the computer, however, I can’t golf with some of these friends, I can’t go to dinner with most. I don’t want to attend a virtual something somewhere. I still want to have a real life.

I hope in a few years people still actually will se each other face to face occasionally.

Gotta go, I have a virtual thing to go to in 42nd Life.

Advertisement

Look … I Am Right Here … Right Now … Aren’t You Glad I Told You?

Yes, once again I have shirked my duties as the guardian of Techtainment Tuesday and almost let it lapse into oblivion.  I am telling you now though that I am here and writing this from a well protected, undisclosed location. Why am I am a secret location you might ask? Even if you don’t ask, I will tell you. It is because I don’t want people to know where I am every minute of the day.

Just Checked in - Undisclosed Location

Facebook came out last week with Places. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand the purpose of any of the geo-location social sites I guess. It seems that there are so many people who complain about privacy this and privacy that, and how Big Brother is watching them. HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Dumb asses! Stop telling everyone where you are and what you are doing! There, privacy issues solved.

What I don’t get from ‘Places’ and ‘Foursquare’ (which was a playground game when I was a kid) is why. Why is it necessary for me to “check in” when I go someplace? Are my 200 some odd Facebook friends going to rush over to wherever I am just to see me? I doubt it. Will the creepy stalker I have know where to find me now … yes. Will the friend from high school who used to be in trouble all the time but was really a good person at heart but fell on hard times years ago and is now a professional cat burglar use places to find out when I am not home and rob me blind … yes! When I “check in” to a location and they look and see who has checked into their establishment use the information to somehow send me even more junk mail than I already get and start using my mobile phone to harass me as well … YES! By becoming “mayor” of the local “Jack-in-the-Box” or “Chuck E. Cheese” lead to a fulfilling political career that will only end in shame and disgrace when I try to sell the local “Dog Catcher” seat … probably.

I have read that when you use one of these services, you can show up, walk into a bar, look at your phone and see who is there. Why can’t I just look around the bar? If I am going to use the phone to see who is there, why even bother going. I can see they are there, text them and say “hey, where are you?” I don’t even have to go there.

I love it when I try to talk about tech that I really don’t understand. GPS in my phone I understand. Giving EVERYONE who wants it , the ability to use my GPS to find me … I don’t understand. Please, someone explain the redeeming quality of any of these services to me.

Although I myself am still waiting to be a featured blog, I found a great way to get people to read me. Simply find someone who is featured, read their blog, hope that you have written a blog of the same tile a while ago, leave them a comment that you wrote about the same topic and then link to YOUR blog in THEIR comments. I have to thank Girl Normal for letting me piggy back her success for a day or two. I had a great number of referrals from her blog to mine. Not only that, but she has a pretty nice blog. I like the snowmen.

I have to get ready to go to a bar later. I am not going to tell you which one because then everyone will go and well, I don’t like people. Anyhoo, until next time remember … “You must love Big Brother. It is not enough to obey him. You must love him.”