The Low-Tech Times

A couple of recent Facebook articles caught my attention.

Waste of Time

Bob Bly wrote an interesting piece on whether using social networks, including Facebook, is a good use of his time:

…when you join, you get e-mails every day from people saying they have found you on one of these networks … and asking to be added to your list or be allowed to follow you or whatever you call it.

These e-mails interrupt my busy day, and so I don’t reply when I get them: It would destroy my productivity and take me away from the pressing writing deadlines at hand.

But I don’t reply to them LATER, either … because — well, because I am busy, and I have more important things to do, whatever time of day or day of the week it is.

I agree with Mr. Bly that facebook does seem like a waste of time and that is why I have not signed up myself.  However, I won’t deny that many people enjoy using the service.  Some folks I know do use Facebook and they find that it helps them keep in touch with their friends; I won’t tear them down for that.  I would, however, also suggest having low-tech, real visits with  friends, such as dinner parties.

Inappropriate Banning of Users?

The Washington Post published an article last week suggesting people are getting kicked off of Facebook, when perhaps they are not doing anything wrong:

“All I was doing is using it to communicate more efficiently, which is what I thought it was for,” said Coe, 25, of Centreville. “I don’t feel like I was violating any code of ethics.”

Others have been kicked off the popular site for adding too many friends at once; sending too many messages; joining too many groups; or “poking” too many friends, a casual greeting on the site. Shunned Facebookers said the punishment contradicts the site’s core mission — to help people connect and communicate.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent about an hour picking blackberries. The reward was a wonderful blackberry cobbler that my wife made. Blackberries are delicious and chock-full of antioxidants.

While I spent an hour or so picking blackberries one day, many other people spend hours every day on their BlackBerry handheld wireless email devices. Undoubtedly, much of that time is wasted. The BlackBerry devices are so addictive that many people refer to them as CrackBerries.

The Low-Tech Times strongly advocates choosing real blackberries over the hi-tech time-wasting devices that share the same name.

See Also: I Like Blackberries; They’re Delicious

Anna Boyd published an interesting article in eFluxMedia covering how text messaging is diverting attention and causing accidents:

It seems that not only talking on the phone while driving is dangerous resulting in more accidents than ever imagined, but also texting while walking seems to have the same risks, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.

The agency issued a warning to young people about a rise in accidents and even deaths related to sending text messages at inappropriate times such as while driving, biking, walking or rollerblading. It seems that paying too much attention to the phone diminishes the attention required when doing such activities.

“People are texting and they trip and fall on their faces – usually people in their 20s. We see a lot of face, chin, mouth (and) eye injuries from falls,” Dr. James Adams, chair of the department of emergency medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine said.

The article goes on to also make a good point that text messaging adds to the nation’s traffic problems.