Sunday, November 30, 2008

Alternative Media

I just received the latest issue of Forum, the official publication of an honor society to which I belong, Phi Kappa Phi. The cover story is about "transcending traditional communications through technology." It is titled "Does social media really connect you to humanity? Or does anyone really have thousands of friends?" Besides the fact I think this title is extremely too long, the article is very interesting. I would include a link here, but the magazine is by subscription only. I couldn't find the article online.

The main point I got out of the article is that we need a way to differentiate from our true friends and our "friends of friends" - the people we've never met, but are connected with through the virtual world. The author believes Twitter is the best tool to stay connected, and he thinks it's the easiest to use. (Again, this is just what I got out of the article.)

I don't know if I agree that a way to differentiate is necessary, but whatever new things come out next, I'm sure it will be interesting. I still like Facebook over Twitter because my college friends post pictures and update their current cities and work info. It's an easy way to keep up without actually talking. If that's good or bad, I'm not sure. I don't stay in contact with them directly.

Twitter doesn't seem very popular among my friends. It seems to reach a more professional audience. What do you think?

The author of the article from the Forum article, Dave Taylor, can be found on Twitter here.

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