Insights and Ingenuity

Sometimes we are reminded that even those we are close to, those we have friendships and other relationships with, can be dramatically different.  I’m not talking chocolate vs. vanilla, The Office vs. CSI, or even Sean Connery vs. Roger Moore (blasphemy!) kind of different.

I’m talking about “So why do you do all this Internet stuff, anyway?” kind of different. What-planet-are-you-from kind of different.

Which is interesting, considering I’ve been married for 14 years.  I understand him better than he understands himself. How can he not know why I do this?

And while my husband could tell you my most hated animals (there are two, and thanks to my friend Angie insisting that bats are not a bird there may now be three–way to add to my neurosis) and my favorite flower (he can never find them), he doesn’t know why I blog or connect on Facebook or Twitter. He doesn’t get it.  “So you write and put it out there and then what? Maybe someone reads it, maybe they don’t?  What do you get out of it?”

Well to put it succinctly, I guess he’s right.  My fragile writer’s ego would like to believe that at least SOMEBODY besides myself checks out my material and finds it useful (I can’t even claim my mother as a frequent site visitor, much to my chagrin).  But my feverish hope does not a following make.  I’m no Jeremiah, or Lee, or Chris, or Brian or…

So why do I do it?  Or, considering the blogosphere (gazillion new blogs added per minute and bajillion estimated Twitter universe), maybe the question really should be “Why do WE initiate (write) or participate (witty rejoinders or sharing)?”

I’ve got this theory, and I believe in it strongly.  Here goes:

Throughout history, mankind has used technological advancements to unite and progress the interests of our people, those within our spheres.  We used fire to warm and feed ourselves, industry to grow and develop our reach and influence, and (skip a few years) now microprocessors, fiberoptics, satellites, and other gizmos to bring Grandma to a computer screen near you.

Hold that thought.

Increasingly, we (consumers) are using technology to filter marketing and advertising messages. We use spam filters to block junk email, Caller ID to block telemarketers, TiVo to short-circuit TV commercials, XM to listen screaming car-ad-free, and RSS to strip out ads.

Whew.  That’s better, right?

Circle back to that thought-on-hold, the one about technology historically bringing people together. So what happens when a society deviates off its hundreds-of-years-established autonomic response? When it veers off its predetermined course?

It self-corrects. (cue glorious Alleluia! music, lights, white doves)

We deployed countless filters that succeeded in mitigating the amount of unsolicited, misdirected, and downright annoying messaging (yes, I call myself a marketer, an agency gal no less, and I dare say these things).  But these filters effectively removed our known connection points with brands, and by extension, each other.  We were not feeling the love.

Enter blogging, microblogging, social networking, social friending, ad nauseum. We’re now using technology (once again) to unite, to support, to protect, to inform, to design, to solve, and to share. Like the Tinkertoy metaphor I used in an earlier post (Social Media is a Child’s Toy), these modern technologies and platforms are enabling us to stay connected.  To get connected.

So what I’m saying here is:  Early days-technology connected. Recent days-technology filtered, left void. Current days-technology connected.

Case in point, each day I see on Twitter an @reply from one significant member to another along the lines of “…so glad to have met you at the blah blah conference..” These are folks I know @ Tweet each other already. Comments like these are further evidence of how technology enables like-minded people to connect, share, commune, and bond–authentically–often without a human physical connection.  Simple fact, humans want to join.  We want to relate and commiserate. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

So I tell my husband that yes, actually I get quite a lot [of satisfaction and pleasure] out of blogging and networking. Blogging gives me a creative outlet for my writing that is different than that I use at work. It lets me work through my “bunny trail” thoughts and express them, if only to the Cloud. Networking gives me a platform for sharing and learning…I just love checking out the links that get recommended around Twitter. I’m smarter for every shared link I’ve followed.

How would you answer the questions, “why do you blog? what do you get out of it?”  Share a comment. I would really like to know your motivations and interests.

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Tags: Blog, Community, filters, Microblogging, Technology, Twitter

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 9:49 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.