transiency in social networks…
I’ve been a fan of so-called “social networking” platforms for quite a while now, considering the use of technology and networks in order to link human beings all over the globe to actually be a good thing. But obviously it doesn’t really work out well in certain terms, maybe it will change the way we get in touch with people in a way similar to how “the internet” does change the way we do shopping or percieve information: Everything is faster, easier, more “global” and yet, probably in a strange way more transient, less permanent.
Remembering being into writing e-mails to, sharing thoughts and ideas and discussions with a lot of people all around the globe almost for ten years now, I often experienced e-mail contact of quite some intensity (at least talking about length and frequency of messages). But it hardly lasts. It’s always in a strange way transient… probably due to ones own behaviour, due to behaviour of contacts and “online friends”, due to always being exposed to “new” influences, keeping contact to the same people all across a longer period of time seems difficult not to say impossible. And in other cases, probably communication sooner or later tends to loose depth, to end up being shallow and little more than just small-talk so contact ceases to exist, sooner or later.
So overally and after all, I wonder whether a technical platform, let aside all good intentions, is able to grow “real” friendships that go beyond just being volatile, or whether the “social-network” idea just is another hype, maybe an attempt made by data-mining addicts in order to explore links between people all around the globe. Perhaps we will see one day…