Monday, October 12, 2009

Blogs or facebook?

One of my old college roommates had her second child, a daughter, on the 2nd (and is she ever cute!). I've been checking her blog pretty frequently for the past couple of weeks, waiting for an announcement. Turns out, she announced on facebook, not on her blog.

Another former roommate (whose son is about a month younger than Sylvia) also has a blog that I check frequently, but again, she apparently updates her facebook page and lets her blog pretty much languish. Turns out, a lot of my old college friends are on facebook and either don't have or rarely update blogs.

I, on the other hand, update my blog about every three days and really only look at facebook when someone adds me as a friend or sends me something.

Thinking about my online behavior compared to that of my friends, is the divergence evidence that I prefer the format that allows me to write longer, less twitter-like updates on my life? Does that mean I'm more contemplative, or simply less busy? I see the advantage of writing quick, pithy updates pretty much constantly--the time commitment is low and you probably present a more organic, perhaps truer picture of the flow of your life. Am I less interested in interaction (though I do love comments!), preferring the format that allows me to navel gaze without so much commentary? Blogs do seem to require much more effort, especially if (like me) comment verification is turned on. Or, is this a timing/generational difference? Did I just get into blogging before facebook (being at one of the second generation schools rather than a first generation school like so many of my old college friends), so now that's just what I do, and just what they do? Perhaps this is just evidence that I'm slow to take up the newest, coolest technology, preferring instead to stay with the familiar, comfortable technology. I am, after all, a bit of a fuddy duddy in my old age.

3 comments:

  1. I definitely prefer blogging! I do use facebook though- for the purpose of keeping up with old friends who don't have blogs. I too enjoy reading blogs and updating my own. More detail and fun pictures to go along with it. I guess everyone has their preferences.

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  2. I actually think Facebook is more work. Though I certainly don't blog all that often either. But in the brief period where I actually paid more attention to my facebook account, I found it sucked up way, way more time than writing a blog post.

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  3. I rarely update on Facebook, but I check fairly regularly to see what other people are doing. I post mostly on Twitter (which I could automatically put on Facebook, but my 297-or-whatever friends don't need all those minute details), which has my smallest friends count. It's also the only social media I'm on that Dan's not on -- sometimes it's nice to able to post and not wonder what he'll say about it at dinner. My blog has been woefully neglected although I'm going to try NaBloPoMo again because the blog partially acts as my kids' babybooks. I think the biggest reason I'm not blogging as much is that I'm hesitant to make so public the things I'm interested in writing about. I'm hoping to be pregnant soon, but I wouldn't want the whole world to know right away. It used to be that only people I met online read my blog. Now that some family and friends read it, it's more awkward.

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