Social Networking

douglas germann 76066.515 at compuserve.com
Mon Mar 30 19:45:38 PDT 2009


Michael and Ralph and Holger and all--

You always make me think, even when I don't want to.

I am wondering if Twitter and its like could be a rich place for offers
and invitations?

			:- Doug.



On Mon, 2009-03-30 at 10:54 -0500, Michael Herman wrote:
> 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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