Diving In

It works out great that I am taking this course at the same time that I am teaching a new course this fall; both are focusing on technology. I've spent a lot of time considering my relationship with technology, both in the planning for my fall courses, and in my  personal life. After hours of grading last night, I finally put down my stack of papers, noted that I had less than six hours before the alarm would ring, and I still felt compelled to finish my game of scrabble. Scrabble!

This past spring I hit a breaking point with Facebook and what had begun as a plan to unfriend a bunch of people, quickly turned into a decision to suspend my facebook account altogether. Admittedly, I hadn't given more than a few hours a month to my facebook account in years; however,  when I did get on it, I found two things happening simultaneously that left me feeling worse than when I'd begun. First, I found that it was a time suck. Like the Lay's commercial, "You can't eat just one." My intention to just glance, inevitably turned into a marathon of catching up on months or more of posts. Second, the longer I was on, the more increasingly irritated I became with both the banal and the political and religious commentary that I read. Just like in personal encounters with the truly prejudiced who seem to have no qualms about spewing racism or sexism as though it's patently obvious that everyone around them surely agrees, I often felt somewhat assaulted by some of the views of my so-called friends - even my own family. So it was with determination, and even a little bit of pride, that I declared myself no longer active on Facebook.

Well, this week's reading and focus is not on Facebook, but on (in my mind, anyway) Facebook's evil twin, Twitter. Just when I'd taken a stand, I find myself in a course requiring me to get a Twitter account (and later in the semester, to reengage on Facebook).  

The required articles for my English 518 course have run parallel to the readings I have assigned my students and all of it has had me thinking deeply about my relationships online and offline. On the one hand, it's been a great experience to reflect on what it means to be a friend and how that plays out in both face to face and online interactions. As an instructor talking with my students about these same issues, I've struggled to find positive aspects of new technologies like Facebook and Twitter. I know that my students are engaging heavily in this atmosphere, and I don't want to view their participation as only a negative. This week I had them read an article titled, "Just How Many Facebook Friends Do You Need?" They recently wrote a rough draft responding to a writing prompt for an illustrative essay which read: New technologies help keep friends in close touch. They were to agree, disagree, or both, and provide thoughtful examples to support their position. After their first draft, I provided the Facebook article so that they could go in and add support from an article. Several students wanted to know immediately if they could also find another source to include in their essays. I agreed, and then shared the essay I had to read for English 518 by Clive Thompson titled, “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy,” from the New York Times Online. What I really like about both of these articles is that they offer differing perspectives. On the one hand, it is true that we should be aware as a society -- as a culture -- of our interactions, both online and off, and wary of too many superficial relationships or the dreaded #FOMO (that's fear of missing out, for the uninitiated). And I don't think it will ever cease to be true that intimate relationships require face to face contact. On the other hand, social media is not simply a narcissistic exercise. As the Times article, and others, suggest, there is something to be gained from following our friends and reading about their every move. There is a way to know them through these sites. On a less personal level, there is an opportunity through Twitter and these media to participate, globally and in real time.  



I will admit that, as I was preparing to obtain a twitter account and launch my first tweet, there was a pressure to be clever and relevant. Is this how my students feel? Despite reading Dr. Tryon's lecture notes and listening to his advice about creating an account, I still ended up attaching my name to my account, which I didn't completely mean to do. I also sent a pretty pathetic first tweet about my first tweet, as though millions of people haven't already sent the same or similar message. I guess, though, that I am an optimist, and I love learning, so I'm going to give it a heartfelt try.  I've already found some great resources out there. I'll also admit that I felt a surge of excitement after I followed Dr. Tryon @chutry and he immediately followed me. I have a follower!

By the way, I briefly polled my college students this morning in class and they confirmed what I have recently read/heard: they rarely use Facebook (since so many older people like me have signed up); instead they love Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (unless, of course, we oldies invade that too heavily, too). In the meantime, I stand by my first tweet, "Now I'm as cool as my kids (my students, that is)!"

You can follow me @eebeeleebee