Social Networking

Mon Mar 30 08:54:38 PDT 2009

some thoughts on what's been said so far.  full disclosure, i don't tweet.
but i might be just on the edge of my tweet seat.

i love what ralph says about not wanting to skip along your surface.  it
seems that twitter is more likely to produce statements than questions, and
not a great deal of depth.  but i think we've all seen proceedings documents
where good conversations didn't produce the most impressive write-ups, or
any at all.

thinking about the larger conversation that twitter is part of, we know that
the conversation on this oslist is different, and deeper, for the annual
osonos travels of a small slice of us.  and that those gatherings are
possible likely only because we keep the flame alive here online.

twitter and facebook seem more like an extension of watching, a way to be
all in the same place, a way to notice and relish that we are all at the
same party, share many of the same people and interests, but don't
necessarily have an intimate dialogue every time we have an event.  in the
physical world of relationships, we go to a lot of meetings because being
there is important, being present, witnessing, listening, and then there are
relatively few moments when we step up and volunteer for something, or have
an intimate, deeply meaningful side conversation, or ask for help in a
crisis.  twitter and facebook are a way to "show up", a first step, in some
sort of larger world that's emerging.

as for the young, i just facilitated an afternoon program with 120 "high
potential" high school seniors as part of a final selection process for
full-ride scholarships to two excellent universities.  it was a cafe format,
but the first session was used to write questions that these young leaders
thought they and other young people should be addressing.  then we did three
rounds in which table hosts picked the questions and raised them with
whoever rotated to their table for one session.  after the first
question-making session, the 20 tables went in 20 different directions, like
an open space with so many small stakes in the ground.  and i went around
picking up cups and the last bits of box-lunch trash in cafe-style, with a
small tray and quiet "can i take that out of your way?"

for all of the potential for doubting statement-biased broadcast-by-twitter,
these kids dug deep into the process of questionning and listening.  sitting
back and listening to the plenary ending, indistinguishable (except for the
tables and clustering) from an open space closing circle, i was impressed
again by these folks, their ownership and engagement.  my guess is that we'd
get the much the same result with almost any 100 kids, if they had the same
chance to get together and question each other deeply.  the world
continually ripening, no?

m

--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates

http://www.michaelherman.com
http://www.ronanparktrail.com
http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org
http://www.openspaceworld.org

312-280-7838 (mobile)

On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 9:21 AM, Pat Black <patoitextiles at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for this post Ralph.  My experience with the platforms mentioned is
> similar to yours.  I have a couple of additional questions though especially
> reflecting on Holger's reflections people's initial reaction to cell phones.
>  I share your perspective that Twitter and other types of these social
> networking communications are unsatisfying in building relationship with
> other people.  I can see that they have some benefit as organizing tools
> where people working on the same puzzle can drop in their piece for everyone
> else to have instantaneously allowing the picture to emerge more quickly for
> more people.  What I wonder about is whether these types of short kind of
> bombish kinds of communication make it harder to communicate in silence.  I
> am reflecting on the constant use of cell phones to talk, text and tweet.
>  The need to be hooked up to the internet through cell phones, constantly
> being buzzed and directed to communications that don't seem important or
> even very interesting but make us feel like we are not alone.  I wonder if
> these constant superficial communications actually create a need for more
> intimacy while continuing to drive us down a less intimate road?  I wonder
> if even just the non stop communication makes it more difficult to be
> comfort in the space of quiet, separation and self?  As I read this I read
> judgement about the media which I actually don't believe I feel because I
> can see where they have great possibility in particular applications but the
> constantness of it is a concern for me.  When I sit at a dinner table with
> people who are texting while I sit across form them I wonder.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 8:02 AM, Ralph Copleman <rcopleman at comcast.net>wrote:
>
>> I signed up for a Twitter account, but apparently I have no need to tweet,
>> so I'm not sure why I did it.  The very sound of the word, in English
>> anyway,  is enough of a clue to me about the quality of the connection,
>> though I suppose there will always be a place in our lives for the small
>> comings and goings.
>> Facebook.  Signed up there, too.  I check it about every second or third
>> day.  I keep waiting for something to happen, something worth sinking teeth
>> into.  Even if I say something I hope might result in richer dialogue,
>> little of lasting import transpires.  But I must say I like it.  It's easy,
>> and some folks I love whom I don't see regularly do post messages there.
>>  Have heard from two old college chums, too, but I cannot say we are
>> "re-connected" in any richer sense.  Linkedin.  Plaxo.  Forget them.  All I
>> ever get are invitations to "connect" to people.  Nothing else.  No dialogue
>> at all.  None.  I suppose I could derive benefit from them if I "worked"
>> them, but I don't feel the need.
>>
>> Live and let live is my motto, and in my case, intimacy is what I crave,
>> not more ways to skip along your surface.  Want me to "follow" you?  Write
>> me something about what's really going on with you, and ask questions.  Send
>> it to me.  I'll answer.  Want to follow me?  Well, ask me what you want to
>> know.  And I'll ask you questions, too.  I'm not sure I want to bother the
>> world with what I have for breakfast each day.  I understand some
>> fame-soaked celebrities have people who ghost-write their tweets.
>>
>> Face-to-face.  Telephone conversation.  Letters and e-mail.  Listserves.
>>  Everything else.  In that order.  The farther I go down the list, the less
>> I experience any space being held by anyone, for anyone.  And here's a quote
>> that came to mind for me.  Seems connected to this, sort of.
>>
>> "…the more sensitive and profound are your answers, the more effective the
>> results."
>>  –– Peter Koestenbaum
>>
>> I'm off to deal with the growing backlash against the need to do a little
>> something about global warming.  Who ARE these people!?
>>
>> Ralph Copleman
>>
>>
>>
>>
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