Category Archives: bebo

Why Can’t We Be Happy With What We’ve Got?

Why can’t we be happy with what we’ve got?

Everything I know tells me that this is not a good headline for a readership that is obviously at the forefront of technology. Let me play devils advocate for one moment though to discuss a trend that is causing me slight unease. as I remember being amazed at the fact that I could sit in a room, in front of a computer screen and talk to people I’d never met before in a chat room.

Then came ICQ, MSN and their cohorts allowing friends, strangers and strange people to connect to each other in a more direct fashion. 2003 saw the advent of the great Myspace. At last we could listen to our favourite bands instantly online, message each other and then, as times moved on watch videos and write blogs; but it wasn’t enough. There was a thirst for something more niche. A bit more exclusive. Cue mass uptake of Facebook, then Bebo (for the younger guys and gals), not to mention Linked in, Faceparty and all the others that quickly emerged (I would be interested to know the exact chronological order that they appeared.)

Still not enough though. We didn’t want to trawl through blogs for information. ‘Blogs are dead’, said Wired.com recently. We can’t be bothered to read more than the status report on our Facebook page and so came Twitter et al, as we apparently aren’t interested in reading anything longer than 140 characters.

Now the time has come when we can’t even wait to get to a computer, and have to have the latest application uploaded to our i-phone and other generic third generation smartphones. Don’t get me wrong, it is of course important to be aware of every new development but do we have to jump on every single bandwagon? Does Twitter actually benefit our day to day life or does it get in the way.

So I put it to you. Instead of signing up to the latest dotcom social networking next big thing. Why not spend that time investigating what utility can really be taken from your current big thing. Surely in our role as technological overseers we have a responsibility to not only talk up every new startup but to also fully appreciate and discuss what we have at our disposal right now. That said, never take your eye off the horizon digiteers, you never know what may be around the corner.

Failure to commit Facebook suicide

The walls are closing in, the pressure’s getting too much…Get me out of here! Facebook’s just a website, right? I’ve closed down e-mail addresses and changed my phone number before so how hard can it be to unregister from a social networking site.

IMPOSSIBLE! Thats what it is. Just like my send phobia (constant reading emails over and over again before sending), I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The only people I have any real contact with on Facebook are my ‘real life’ friends anyway so who cares about the others. It’s more than that through. It is a name that has become so intrinsically linked to daily life that to not have a Facebook account would be like not having a head. Well not quite but you get the idea.

We go and watch a band and where do we look and laugh at the photos the next day? Facebook. Arranging a Stag Do? Send the invites out on Facebook. Without Facebook I would not be able to air my innermost thoughts and feelings concerning what I had for dinner via my status page.

Verdict: I will keep my Facebook to continue it’s use as a social tool and calendar but I willl try to avoid plunging in to the deep depths of Facebookism that involves staring for hours at photos of people you don’t know doing things you’d never do with people that you only vaguely know.

Right i’m off to check my Facebook…..doh!