June 7, 2013
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Social Media
@Roadkill_Spatula just posted an interesting article in the Atlantic Monthly about social media in general and FB in particular. While I was reading it, two things popped into my mind:
1) I like to blog. I like to write for other people. I never really thought of Xanga as a place to meet people; that was just a happy incidental. My goal was to do what I’d been doing for decades, writing in spirals I hid under my bed, and do it in front of other people. It was my hope that I’d get more comfortable with the idea of sharing my writing. It only took eight or nine years, but I’m happy to say it worked. And in the meantime, I accidentally met a lot of really cool people. But I’ve always thought of blogging as writing. I’ve never thought of Xanga and FB as being the same thing…it was mystifying to me when so many of my Xanga friends disappeared when FB came along, because I was all, uh, what are they doing over there?! Posting one-liners? Status updates? Really?!?
I see now that I have an out-of-step approach to the idea of writing online. But that’s okay. Lots of other people do too, thank goodness.
2) Today I had the opportunity to have a long conversation with my dad about his investment philosophy. He retired in the early 90s and has been living on the income from his nest egg since then, thanks to his investment prowess. The conversation clarified for me why Facebook was a wrong investment for so many people. For some years, I’ve wished I had enough money to buy individual stocks, because I want to buy GAP. I have a good feeling about GAP. But that’s kind of a side issue on this particular post, so I’m going to leave it at that. But the point I was making is that social media and investing and the idea of “venture capitalism” was front and center for me, today.
Comments (9)
Yeah, I’m with you on the difference between Xanga and Facebook. While I use both, and I like both, the purpose is TOTALLY different. I have some friends who write “notes” on fb, these rambling things that should be blogs. But nobody really reads them. Mostly people post one-liners, photos of their dinners, their pets, their friends, their drunken escapades. I have a cousin who must subscribe to a thousand different groups that share those stupid photos with motivational words on them. Or funny words. I admit I go on facebook most of the time to read George Takei.
I probably blogged for 2 or 3 years without really getting any comments. I kept doing it though. Eventually people started reading and I started making friends and it was like “whoa, these are humans here.” But that was never my goal in the beginning, I just wanted to write about stuff.
interesting. i agree facebook and blogging are vastly different. and blogging on other sites and blogging on xanga are vastly different too. i started on blogspot, writing to an audience of people i knew from facebook. but blogging on xanga. way different. head and shoulders above the top of the eiffel tower different.going over to read your whisperings.
I found that I do tend to stick to the elderly folks here on xanga, they are often more loyal “readers”.
But some of the younger up and coming bloggers like@leaflesstree - and OBL are also purposing to have a book published as a goal. Basically you two are now torn between the decision to blog and be a part of the larger community of xanga. I’ve always felt that true writers are just ordinary people that just decided to put it all down in writing.
Ten years from now we will see if anyone makes their goal of writing publishable and those like myself to just blog and blog because I refuse to focus too hard on just writing.
2. GAP the clothing store or gap trading or? I don’t know much about investing, other than I think it’s a great idea to diversify: stocks, savings, real estate, precious metals and other non-fiat currency, goats, chickens, and tomato plants. I am resistant to knowing much about investing. Though I will listen (and learn) amicably if you’re going to hold court.
1. I tried to leave Xanga for facebook a few months ago. The only result was once again proving that facebook and I don’t mesh.
0. well, zero.
Facebook is very commercial and I know it turns a lot of people off. But what keeps me coming back to any social place online is people. I do wonder if Facebook is going to make it in the future or like blogging thins out and all but disappears like Myspace,, Bebo and etc. Sister is taking anthropology to learn what kind of marketing works with people. Found that interesting that people took anthropology for marketing and business. Maybe I can figure that out too and invest someday, I do know that what is popular with high school kids most times becomes the next big trend. EX: Who knew My little pony would make such a comeback with young white adult males. I should have invested in that since I see it everywhere now.
I’m a lot more terrified to share my writing now than I used to be. Even in middle school/high school I shared my writing with some people. I’ve shared a bit of it on xanga, I guess – obviously in addition to what I blog about when I ramble (although people have complimented me on that writing, too) – but somehow I’ve taken steps backward when it comes to sharing stories/poetry/whatever with people. I’m not sure exactly when I started feeling ashamed of my writing.
I use Facebook all the time, but honestly a lot of what I post there could be described as a performance. I’m still being genuine, of course, and sometimes I do post personal-ish feelings or musings, but most of it is just funny or clever to get people to laugh. I like laughing, and I like to make other people laugh, but Facebook is not the place for introspection. I do that on xanga. Not in a journaling kind of way, really (at least I don’t think of it as such), but in a record-keeping, kind of personal way. Yeah, I have people who read, and yeah, almost everything I write is also for the people who read it, but it’s just… different. I like both of these aspects of social networking, but the personal sharing (along with the anonymity) is way more important to me.
I just want to point out what an over achiever you are – blogging in 2 places while on a traveling road show. I didn’t know you were blogging double. Interesting.
I use Facebook to connect with family and friends. Xanga has been a place to write, read interesting stuff/look at cool photos, and make friends. I’m now friends on FB with a number of Xanga friends, and I occasionally post a link on FB to one of my posts if I think family and friends would find it interesting.
And I’m famous now. OBL mentioned me at the top of her post. Yay.
The Devil Facebook is no substitute for blogging. But I don’t think FB killed my blog because my FB account has suffered mightily of late too. (The difference, of course, is that the Devil FB deserves to suffer.)
Also, seriously, you have to stop blogging in two different places. Blogging unique blogs in two different places, I mean. While on vacation no less. YOU HAVE ALREADY RAISED THE BAR. LET IT STAY WHERE IT IS FOR JUST A LITTLE WHILE.
Here’s a Mini, for old time’s sake. It’s an expensive one. I mean, why not, since I have 268 credits? But there’s no more where those came from. Once I’m out of credits, it’s no more Minis for you. And there goes your incentive to maintain your Xanga account. (Except for the part where you have Lifetime Premium.)