So I have this friend John, who started a blog a while back called
Defending the Doctrines of Grace. It was a nice blog about books he'd read, local area information, stuff about Vermont, his faith and walk in the Lord, his running ministry, his family, you know, a nice personal blog! Well, after having discovered Facebook, he has all but abandoned his blog. What's up with that?? What's going on over there at Facebook that has caused him to lose interest in his writing? He now uses every opportunity he can to throw it in my face, that I'd know this or that 'if only I would join Facebook too.'
This got me thinking, what *
is* the big deal with social networking websites? I mean, do you have to have a profile on each one? What are the differences between them? How much time do you devote to updating your page? Do I really have the time or the desire to let everyone know my minute by minute stats throughout the day? How in the world is there enough time to visit everyone else's pages that are in your 'friends' list? What is the point? Am I missing something? Isn't this just another temptation to distract us from what we ought to be doing? Isn't this just another temptation to seek out people better left unfound?
Someone please tell me, what social networking site/s do you use and why is it better than any of the other ones. Also, how much time do you devote hourly, daily or weekly to interacting on them? How is it better (or is it?) than blogging? What is 'the point' for you?
So I have this friend John, who started a blog a while back called Defending the Doctrines of Grace. It was a nice blog about books he'd read, local area information, stuff about Vermont, his faith and walk in the Lord, his running ministry, his family, you know, a nice personal blog! Well, after having discovered Facebook, he has all but abandoned his blog. What's up with that?? What's going on over there at Facebook that has caused him to lose interest in his writing? He now uses every opportunity he can to throw it in my face, that I'd know this or that 'if only I would join Facebook too.'
This got me thinking, what *is* the big deal with social networking websites? I mean, do you have to have a profile on each one? What are the differences between them? How much time do you devote to updating your page? Do I really have the time or the desire to let everyone know my minute by minute stats throughout the day? How in the world is there enough time to visit everyone else's pages that are in your 'friends' list? What is the point? Am I missing something? Isn't this just another temptation to distract us from what we ought to be doing? Isn't this just another temptation to seek out people better left unfound?
Someone please tell me, what social networking site/s do you use and why is it better than any of the other ones. Also, how much time do you devote hourly, daily or weekly to interacting on them? How is it better (or is it?) than blogging? What is 'the point' for you?
4 comments:
I originally liked facebook because of Scrabulous, but you can't play that on there anymore. It is fun connecting with people I haven't seen in years - from high school, college, and church. No, you don't have to visit everyone's pages all the time. It took me a while to figure out, but if you just visit the home page, you get a list of what everyone is up to - and can comment or visit from there.
I also have my facebook account set up to post my blog posts, as well as everything from twitter, which is mainly my blog posts, too. So, people who never read my blog before can see that I'm posting, and they end up reading my blog because of it.
I don't have any idea why anyone would stop blogging because of facebook. I think it all ties together.
I haven't stopped blogging per se but there's only so much time in the day. I'll have a few book reviews soon but you do have to actually READ them, and that takes time too. Okay, I have to go check what my buds are doing on Facebook now :)
I use both MySpace (home of my first blog) and Facebook. I log in around once or twice a week. I'd so much rather blog.
I get on facebook every so often. Before I started blogging so much, I used to go on it more frequently because it is a way to connect with people. I much prefer my blog, though. Facebook is designed for a shorter attention span - and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. It's a quick way to catch up with people or connect with people you don't talk to on a regular basis.
I used to have a myspace account, but I have teenagers, and I can honestly say I hate myspace for my own personal reasons. At least at facebook, you have to use your name.
I don't twitter simply because I don't have time for another social network! I used to spend some time on stumble, which is really cool, but I just don't have time to keep up with everything.
I believe a lot of the social networking sites are all about popularity. Kind of reminds me of high school in some ways, and that's not a good thing.
There are good and bad things about all the sites, and they are different in their own ways. But if I had to choose, I'd just stick my blogging. Sorry to chatter on so long! Happy Thanksgiving.
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