Online Communities and Connection/Isolation

In Blake Snow's article, I feel that there is an accurate portrayal of the modern day Facebook user. I know so many people who have just decided, "I'm done with Facebook! See you never!" because of the exact reasons stated (distracts from work, boring posts, and need to communicate differently). I also know however, that most of these people delete Facebook just to see how much they will be missed and then re-activate their account with many "new" friends. I myself have even thought about deleting Facebook and Twitter a few times but I feel like I would be missing important news if I was no longer involved. Is it a new trend? Or are people realizing that maybe social networks are having too many negative impacts on "real life".

Michiko Kakutani's article about Sherry Turkle's new book highlights points that I agree and disagree with. I believe that in the article, there is not much said about the positive sides of social media. For instance, reconnecting with family or friends across seas or that you haven't talked to in a long time was expensive and usually incredibly time consuming before Facebook etc. I also love how texting or social media gives you time to think about your answers. You are hardly ever caught saying something you didn't mean or that didn't make sense in the context. However, this article focuses on how social media is impacting the social situation offline. I remember a few instances where I was fighting with a friend and instead of talking it out and getting things resolved, I received incredibly long texts/Facebook messages. Possibly the most annoying thing that has come with social media are the passive tweets/posts that are directed at someone publicly, but do not have a name attached. I can't tell you how many times the text "Was that Facebook post about me?" circulated around my high school.

One particular item that bothered me about Sherry Turkle's book was where she speaks of "Brad" and how he is so unsure about how to portray himself online and if he can keep it up in person. I hope Brad is one of the young interviewees because I cannot see anyone who is a mature and professional individual worrying about this. I think when you are in your youth you can twist your personality to be "popular" online but as you grow older you feel that you don't need to pretend anymore, people will delete you if they don't like you AND THAT'S OKAY! So I think using this as an example to illustrate the point of her book, it is not incredibly accurate. The only people I can think of who do this I deleted a long time ago because they were not like they seemed to be, or are the people you watch on TV who met up with their online "loves" only to find out they're a fake. I feel like if you aren't being yourself online, or at least if you don't feel like you can be that same person offline, you should probably delete your profile.