S-i-N City

Sally-in-Norfolk is interviewed by Radio Norfolk. Along with another lady, they talk about Facebook, blogging and twittering.

Sadly I squirmed at the need for the presenters to explain to the audience what the heck it is all about. I can’t help but think that the folk had the same issues when trying to explain the advantages of the printed word in the 15th century. I guess that’s why I have a book on order about the growth of the telegraph system. Just to see if there are any similarities between then and now. Humans tend to repeat experiences and attitudes, so I’d be surprised if there wasn’t any similarities.

Surprisingly the presenters then push their own Facebook group. Hey ho. I must have picked up the negative-sounding comments wrong then.

Sally’s post  - 2 hrs 10 mins in on iPlayer link, plus some chatter later.

There’s a defence of the blogs at 2hrs 35mins in.

Me? I don’t care. If people can’t be bothered, then they don’t have to. The world carries on. FFS, get a life, get your own life. Some people can get through life without ever needing to drive, or use a video recorder, or tv. Life goes on. It is part of the joys of humanity – we are all different, we all have differing passions. We are allowed to be different. Embrace that. I’ve given up defending what I do.

This is different from making people aware of what modern technology can do. And this changes on a daily basis – just look at the articles on Webware.com to see the changing face of online technology, and the pace at which it moves. There are some studies that say that emails are in decline – yet many people see the email as a modern way of communicating. I get more texts than I do emails, or tweets, or blog articles that I read on a regular basis. But that is just me, and my technological/age-group, for others it will be their Bebo or Facebook pages. This all raises an interesting problem for education – how can we teach people about communication tools if they have not yet been invented. Heck, it is really quite simple. We don’t. We teach the advantages of good communications, and the disadvantages of bad communication. We teach the difference between face-to-face communications and letter-writing. Of mass-communication and communicating with friends. And of communicating with different media.

Although the technology changes, the essence of it does not. We are humans, and the tools we develop are there to help us in different ways. They allow us to communicate across distances, across time zones, through language barriers (press the Babel-fish logo on the sidebar), ignoring race, colour, age, or gender re-alignment. Things that our forefathers could not do are now done on a daily basis by people. Our lives can be made easier, but not necessarily happier or more fulfilling. For that, we have art. Hold on to that which makes us happy, and continue to dream the impossible dream.