I recently, after a long period of neglect, procrastination and denial, opened a Facebook account. I did it with some trepidation, because those that know me warned that I would fritter away even more of what remains of my puny little life. While that was pretty true for the first week or two, I think I'm getting it under control. Having been blogging for four years may have helped. I've alredy got a lot of stuff off my chest and I don't need to start all over again now on Facebook. I can just rant about new stuff as it comes along.
I joined in large part to help connect with long lost friends. I'm registered on Classmates.com, but as a super cheapskate, I resisted paying to join there. I've since heard that bad things can happen once the get a hold of your credit card number, so I'm glad I didn't succumb. So far, I've reconnected with a few friends from high school and earlier. I'm having a little trouble with college friends because my school isn't listed in Facebook's classmate search engine. I guess "State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry" just wouldn't fit. They could have tried SUNY ESF. That would work for us.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how many of the friends I've made strictly through blogging are on Facebook. That does, however, raise the question: Does Facebook kill blogging? Now the kind of post I might put on the Moose Hill Journal would never fit on FB. Admittedly, my posting frequency there is sporadic, but I get so few hits there anymore anyway, I wonder if everyone isn't so busy on FB that they don't bother to read blogs anymore. They certainly aren't posting comments. Most of the shorter posts I might put on this Moose Hill Notebook would fit on FB nicely, so I figure this blog is more or less pointless. Although, for what it's worth, if I have anything to say that I'd like to be around for a little while, a blog might be better than FB. I have no idea how long FB posts stick around, but I'm guessing it's not very long.
So, dear reader, check me out on Facebook. Say 'hello.' It's easy. Maybe too easy.
Dipping into the Stream #3
8 years ago
3 comments:
I think Facebook has seriously challenged blogging. But I also think blogging is an entirely different beast. Facebook has its charms, but it tends to be short bursts of chatter. Blogging has more content and seems to be more thoughtful. When I want to really write something, I blog. When I want to check in with friends, a short status update on Facebook will do. The challenge for blogs is to stay relevant in an age of reduced capacity thinking.
Facebook has often distracted me from blogging and reading blogs. Its biggest impact on me, though, has been the shortening of my attention span for reading. If anyone shares an article on Facebook that needs to be read rather than a video, I almost groan aloud.
Yes, Facebook has its charms, I agree, but I think it is contributing to a bit too much drama and chaos in my life.
I'm a little late coming to this conversation. I'm not on Facebook. I've resisted ;), but I'm an avid and happy blogger, and seeing these comments about the succinct nature of Facebook, I think I'm probably better off resisting, as I'm not a woman of few words ;).
I hope you'll come back to blogging ;).
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