Friday, February 4, 2011

Techno Beat

Well, you may guess by 'Techno Beat' I mean beat as in 'with a bat.' Or 'beaten.' It's difficult to keep up these days. I can't even keep my desk clean and I'm trying to learn new tricks. My sister was explaining the RSS feed thing. "No, no, that's the READ, not the FEED." I give up. Weren't our lives simpler without all these things?

I'm sure we all have our generational issues. When I was young, it was 'don't sit so close to the television, you'll ruin your eyesight.' Maybe even, 'don't read with a flashlight under the covers, you'll go blind.' Then it was the walkman, 'you'll go deaf.' We all have our stories of 'don'ts.' Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are all the talk now. Even my friends don't understand the attraction our kids have to Facebook. I know it took me a long time to understand it, and it was only after I watched my son sit in front of the monitor for hours before I realized what it was that was so compelling. It's like a big group of friends sitting in a circle. There are conversations going on all around the circle, and you're part of every one of them.

After my pilot career was over, I missed seeing my friends that I always saw in the crew room. Now I have a way to reconnect with them. It's also interesting to see their political beliefs come out in their posts. We do have a responsibility to listen to others' opposing viewpoints. We don't have to agree, but an open mind is so very important. And that's probably what made me try to figure out why my son liked Facebook so much.

It has helped me reconnect with my friends. Thank you, Facebook!