Is social networking (OTHER than DU) important to your life?

[DainBramaged]

Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, smart phones, (maybe dumb users taken by marketing pros), but what is important to you.

[Eric J in MN]

1. I put yes.

It would be a big change for the worse if I couldn't use YouTube and Twitter.

[realisticphish]

2. yes

for my friends, facebook is an essential communication tool. Our e-mails change so frequently, as we graduate, etc, that facebook is the easiest way to keep in contact. And facebook has its own IM, so it covers two of those...

Twitter, meh. Have an account, never use it, or even read other tweets. And I have a stupid phone :shrug:

[Dappleganger]

3. Sorry, what did you say?

That kitty is lookin at me funny.

[DainBramaged]

13. I know, only TWO kiteh votes too.....

[BlueJazz]

4. Frankly, I don't know why anybody would want to know what I am doing all the time.

....and the opposite is Damn true ! :)

[DainBramaged]

12. Which is the way I have felt for years

I still AIM for people at work at different offices, it helps and cuts down on phone costs.

[NeedleCast]

15. You seem to be under the impression that this is all those sites are about

You're doing it wrong...

[BlueJazz]

21. Then teach me

[Webster Green]

5. I have no use for any of it.

I don't have a TeeVee either.

I'm a weirdo! :P

[kirby]

6. Despise the concept n/t

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. I keep hearing that it's "not as important as it should be"...

...I have Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace accounts. I have never actually gotten any business via social networking, but on the other hand, I don't work it as aggressively as the people who do.

I think the success comes from being a "relentless self-promoter," a bridge I've yet to cross, because I have an extremely difficult time not seeing that class of humanity as self-absorbed pricks.

[NightWatcher]

8. I love my smartphone. it's a great tool and very handy

I carry it in the field in lieu of my laptop, field guides, camera, maps.....

I complete reports, access shared computer files, and upload reports instantly to the office critters.

[Urban Prairie]

9. No

But if I was still in my teens or was an active member of the rat race, and had the drive and desire to try to climb the (now rapidly disappearing) "ladder of professional success", I would probably say yes.

How did we ever do w/o all of these "electronic" social networking gadgets back in the 20th century?

All we had were land-line telephones, walkie-talkies, and CB radios (the "brief" CB radio craze of the late 70s)

[petronius]

10. I don't use any of it - if someone needs to get in touch with me they can

phone or email, or stop by my office. None of my social pleasures involve spontaneous meetups, so it wouldn't help me there.

On the other hand, I can see how it's useful for people who are more socially active: when we visit friends in cities the process of finding people and getting together is vastly smoother than it used to be. And, the comment above about unstable contact info makes sense (my own contact info is pretty much set in stone). So, while none of that stuff does anything for me, I've become less inclined to mock people who live by it...

[Edweird]

11. Meh. I have a myspace acct. (that is basically idle) and an 'idiot-savant' phone.

No facebook or twitter or linkdin. My last serious girlfriend lived by those things - BUT she was a freelance consultant for the medical industry so it was part of her work.

[NeedleCast]

14. I use Twitter and Facebook for political grass roots networking

I use them both for other things as well, prodimnantely following the underground rock/metal music scene. It's also a good tool for keeping in touch with friends who I am a long way from, or friends from overseas, who can be difficult to reach via phone.

It's not all about posting that you're getting coffee at Starbucks...

Like any tool, you get out of it what you put into it. Yeah, there are lot of people out there posting mundane bits from their day to day lives but it's not ALL about that and it's easy to get rid of that sort of content and only allow what you want to filter in.

[4lbs]

16. No. I barely use Twitter, and haven't set up a Facebook account.

I don't text message either.

I prefer to actually talk to a person on the phone (you know, AUDIO), or in person.

Everything else is too impersonal for me.

[MilesColtrane]

17. Th only kind of social networking I'm interested in is happy hour.

It happens at the bar with a cold one and a game on, not in front of a computer.

[Brickbat]

18. It is to me. I work at home and find judicious use of Facebook, Twitter, and discussion boards keeps

me plugged in on both a personal and professional level. I love having them around. I've gotten freelance projects through people I have never met in real life but am friends with online.

[AuntPatsy]

19. What is important is being able to sort out the truth from the clutter of that which you mention...

[old mark]

20. This and a few gun and a few guitar and music sites are it - no social sites per se...

I see people continuously in contact with others, driving, at the supermarket, "I'm looking through the cereal aisle now..." and I wonder who thinks they are so important that this must be communicated? I am not all that fond of people anyway, and tend to comment but not engage in conversation.

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