Even in 2015, I have friends who don't understand why I'm on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, like me, they were born more than half a century ago, so I can cut them some slack. And they don't have jobs that might benefit from any kind of Internet presence. But for anyone out there who still doesn't get it, it's not hard to come up with examples of how social media can add joy to one's life, and maybe even enhance one's business or career.
Tonight, for example. I'm sitting at my computer listening to an old Boz Scaggs album over iTunes. I have the LP somewhere in my basement, but nothing to play it on, so I haven't heard it in years. And the Boz Scaggs concert I went to in 1980 was too loud to hear his singing. But I digress.
With Boz (or rather, Apple) providing the soundtrack, I go onto Facebook and see the following: a picture of my cousin's grandson or granddaughter at his or her wedding (I'm not clear on which belongs to him, the bride or groom, but they're a nice looking couple); a box score for the Red Sox's 22-10 win over the Mariners this afternoon (where have these guys been all year?); a high school friend's posting of a YouTube link to a 1969 live performance of "The Weight" by The Band; a lecture by some philosopher or other about achieving stillness (not sure I'll watch it, but I'm glad to know it's there); a post by my son about a reference to his employer on the tv show "The West Wing" (I guess he's watching the DVDs I got him one Christmas); a picture of my niece with a lot of other people's stuff loaded onto her canoe (she was doing them a favor); a picture of a sunset in Cleveland by a woman who graduated from and used to work for my alma mater; an op-ed in the New York Times by a columnist who writes about dying of cancer; Larry Bird's Hall of Fame video; and way too many articles about Donald Trump (one would be too many). And I saw all of this in a matter of minutes.
Here's what's amazing - this stuff and so much more is floating around in bits and bytes on computer servers in undisclosed locations and it's accessible to any of us with an internet connection! It's a lot like radio and television that way; the information is out there, you just need the right technology to access it. But unlike radio and television, the stuff is being posted by people I have chosen as friends or whom I have chosen to follow. And Facebook is a free service that opens a window to this otherwise hidden world. Subscribing to FB or other social media outlets is like having surgery to remove the cataracts from your eyes; all of a sudden sights you never expected to see come into focus. And if you're selective about whom you friend and follow, you'll be glad you got to see them. Sure, you have to put up with a few ads, some of them (all of them?) targeted, but they're easy enough to skip and ignore. And once in a while they actually promote something you're interested in.
Of course, FB is a two-way street. I also get to post things that some of my friends actually like to see from time to time. Pictures of my daughter's college graduation, for instance; articles and book titles that I recommend; and an occasional blog post like this one.
Twitter is valuable in different ways. Here's one example. In addition to my personal blog, I publish a blog about class action lawsuits, which is the focus of my law practice (solely on the defense side). This week I spent more than the usual time composing a post about new federal appellate decisions that highlight splits among the various federal circuits on important class action procedural issues. Just as I was about to post it, I saw a tweet from a reporter for a legal publication mentioning a brand new appellate decision that was very relevant to what I was writing. So I delayed posting for a few hours until I could work in a reference to the new case. That same reporter and one of her colleagues have recently interviewed me because they saw my tweets with links to some blog posts I wrote on topics they were covering. One of my tweets was even quoted in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago when they were reporting about the publication of the new Harper Lee book (I had tweeted that I wasn't planning to read it because I liked to remember Atticus Finch as a lawyer/hero). And Twitter also leads me to innumerable articles that I enjoy reading, about literature, entertainment, politics, religion, sports, business and other subjects.
Tell me why on earth I wouldn't want to do this? What good reason exists for not wanting to plug in to social media to see what people are talking about and become part of the conversation? Who wouldn't want to see what is going on with their kids, siblings, cousins, and friends whom they care about but don't often get to see or speak with? Why let the bits and bytes travel through the ether without peeking at them once in a while to see what information I'm missing?
At my age, I'm still a social media Luddite. I don't spend time on Pinterest or Instagram or Snapchat or any other number of popular sites. I pretty much limit my menu to FB, Twitter and LinkedIn (which is also useful though perhaps not as much fun). And I wouldn't want to overdo it. There is too much else out there in the 3-dimensional world that I wouldn't want to miss because all my attention is being absorbed by my computer, iPad or iPhone. There also is a lot of stuff posted that doesn't really interest me, but I can move past it. And yes, there are privacy concerns, and I have at times blown off FB because of them, and I can't swear that I won't do so again someday. But on balance, the negatives are not enough to make me want to relinquish my access to new information, whether that information concerns wars in the Middle East, the new Harper Lee book (still not reading it), or my second cousin's child's wedding.
But enough talk. Now I'm going to go back and watch that video of The Band. And I'll be sure to check out the new things posted since I started writing this. Paul Simon was right: these are still the days of miracles and wonders.
Tonight, for example. I'm sitting at my computer listening to an old Boz Scaggs album over iTunes. I have the LP somewhere in my basement, but nothing to play it on, so I haven't heard it in years. And the Boz Scaggs concert I went to in 1980 was too loud to hear his singing. But I digress.
With Boz (or rather, Apple) providing the soundtrack, I go onto Facebook and see the following: a picture of my cousin's grandson or granddaughter at his or her wedding (I'm not clear on which belongs to him, the bride or groom, but they're a nice looking couple); a box score for the Red Sox's 22-10 win over the Mariners this afternoon (where have these guys been all year?); a high school friend's posting of a YouTube link to a 1969 live performance of "The Weight" by The Band; a lecture by some philosopher or other about achieving stillness (not sure I'll watch it, but I'm glad to know it's there); a post by my son about a reference to his employer on the tv show "The West Wing" (I guess he's watching the DVDs I got him one Christmas); a picture of my niece with a lot of other people's stuff loaded onto her canoe (she was doing them a favor); a picture of a sunset in Cleveland by a woman who graduated from and used to work for my alma mater; an op-ed in the New York Times by a columnist who writes about dying of cancer; Larry Bird's Hall of Fame video; and way too many articles about Donald Trump (one would be too many). And I saw all of this in a matter of minutes.
Here's what's amazing - this stuff and so much more is floating around in bits and bytes on computer servers in undisclosed locations and it's accessible to any of us with an internet connection! It's a lot like radio and television that way; the information is out there, you just need the right technology to access it. But unlike radio and television, the stuff is being posted by people I have chosen as friends or whom I have chosen to follow. And Facebook is a free service that opens a window to this otherwise hidden world. Subscribing to FB or other social media outlets is like having surgery to remove the cataracts from your eyes; all of a sudden sights you never expected to see come into focus. And if you're selective about whom you friend and follow, you'll be glad you got to see them. Sure, you have to put up with a few ads, some of them (all of them?) targeted, but they're easy enough to skip and ignore. And once in a while they actually promote something you're interested in.
Of course, FB is a two-way street. I also get to post things that some of my friends actually like to see from time to time. Pictures of my daughter's college graduation, for instance; articles and book titles that I recommend; and an occasional blog post like this one.
Twitter is valuable in different ways. Here's one example. In addition to my personal blog, I publish a blog about class action lawsuits, which is the focus of my law practice (solely on the defense side). This week I spent more than the usual time composing a post about new federal appellate decisions that highlight splits among the various federal circuits on important class action procedural issues. Just as I was about to post it, I saw a tweet from a reporter for a legal publication mentioning a brand new appellate decision that was very relevant to what I was writing. So I delayed posting for a few hours until I could work in a reference to the new case. That same reporter and one of her colleagues have recently interviewed me because they saw my tweets with links to some blog posts I wrote on topics they were covering. One of my tweets was even quoted in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago when they were reporting about the publication of the new Harper Lee book (I had tweeted that I wasn't planning to read it because I liked to remember Atticus Finch as a lawyer/hero). And Twitter also leads me to innumerable articles that I enjoy reading, about literature, entertainment, politics, religion, sports, business and other subjects.
Tell me why on earth I wouldn't want to do this? What good reason exists for not wanting to plug in to social media to see what people are talking about and become part of the conversation? Who wouldn't want to see what is going on with their kids, siblings, cousins, and friends whom they care about but don't often get to see or speak with? Why let the bits and bytes travel through the ether without peeking at them once in a while to see what information I'm missing?
At my age, I'm still a social media Luddite. I don't spend time on Pinterest or Instagram or Snapchat or any other number of popular sites. I pretty much limit my menu to FB, Twitter and LinkedIn (which is also useful though perhaps not as much fun). And I wouldn't want to overdo it. There is too much else out there in the 3-dimensional world that I wouldn't want to miss because all my attention is being absorbed by my computer, iPad or iPhone. There also is a lot of stuff posted that doesn't really interest me, but I can move past it. And yes, there are privacy concerns, and I have at times blown off FB because of them, and I can't swear that I won't do so again someday. But on balance, the negatives are not enough to make me want to relinquish my access to new information, whether that information concerns wars in the Middle East, the new Harper Lee book (still not reading it), or my second cousin's child's wedding.
But enough talk. Now I'm going to go back and watch that video of The Band. And I'll be sure to check out the new things posted since I started writing this. Paul Simon was right: these are still the days of miracles and wonders.
And I believe
These are the days of lasers in the jungle
Lasers in the jungle somewhere
Staccato signals of constant information
A loose affiliation of millionaires
And billionaires and baby
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