Be More Social?

Social Networking

As my daughter and I navigate around the city looking for cheap thrills, I usually have first navigated my way around the WWW - searching for these little gems. I am not really into using the computer, but have come to recognize and appreciate it for the great tool that it is. People use it for so much more than searching for free fun- there is a whole social aspect available that is constantly expanding. One thing I have learned is that by joining groups and networking, I can reap the rewards of other people's experience and adventures as well.

Social Networking, to me, sounds like something I'd rather not try. But in reality, I do have a Facebook account, which I use to spy on old friends and new. There is a bit of pleasure in keeping up with the old crowd while not really having to keep up.

I like Facebook because now I know who's in town - who I really could get back in touch with if I wanted. But, as my sister Liz noted, it has really lost the personal touch we all longed for when we first started friend-searching.

As my more social and more tech-savvy friends tell me, there is so much more I could be doing with my facebook, and there are so many other sites to explore as well.

I will stay away from Twitter - while I would like to know what LL Cool J or my friend Heidi is doing right now, I really could be too easily distracted by too many tmi tweets.

LinkedIn, I am sure could be very useful in my job search, but it is boring. As in BooorrRinggg!

MySpace- I think I will leave this to my daughter's generation; while I would like to have a page decorated with pink cupcakes and cute frames for my photos, it just feels not right for people born before the bicentennial.

reddit and Digg just make me feel old, too - there is too much going on for me to enjoy peacefully, and too many rude/naughty/dumb comments for me to tolerate.

One social networking site that I hope to use more often is Ning.

Ning It!

This site looks like fun and seems to be useful for those of use who just want a forum to connect with a specific set of people with similar interests. The icons are just the right size, there is not an excess of info shoved into a small space, and it doesn't ask me for my soul to simply join in the fun.
It is nice to look at and easy to navigate - I like it because I don't personally have to create and maintain a page. It doesn't seem like as much of a time suck as facebook, though without all the quizzes, polls and games to entertain/distract. But it is fun to explore, and I hope to dedicate some time to looking for a a site or forum with good ideas about raising children in the city.