socially networked

Talking about teens and technology in a room full of library students is a trip.

Most of my classmates are in their mid-twenties, with a bit of distribution higher or lower, which means most of us have used computers since elementary school, the Internet since middle school, Facebook since college, et cetera. We are pretty digitally savvy/integrated although we aren’t quite as “digitally native” as the teen patrons we hope to someday serve.

By the way, if I hear or say the term “digital native” one. single. more. time, I am really going to shoot myself in the eye. Seriously.

Anyway, even though we are online-type people, we still, as a group, have quite a few hang-ups regarding teen use and Internet use in general.

• It’s great that teens can find social communities online when their human communities fail them, but it can be dangerous….. if you’re not anorexic or suicidal when you first touch a computer, you probably will be before the end of the year, and what about their social skills? Are they just going to meet people and fall in love and get married on Second Life?!?! HOLY MOLEY!
• The Internet makes things EASIER and FASTER and MORE FUN! But if you read Sparknotes, you might as well put your application in at McDonalds. And you’ll just never learn to write properly in a text message box and with all those windows open all the time distracting you from Deep Thinking, so kiss your English major dreams goodbye.
• If you’re a teenager, you shouldn’t give your mom your Facebook password. That’s just stupid. But your parents and your school should have taught you “net safety” tips – don’t give out your address, take a hooker-picture in your bathroom mirror, send your boyfriend a naked text – so you can be a responsible Internet user. In other words – you can use technology, but NOT LIKE THAT!

What really got me thinking was our chats about Facebook. The class was open to the idea of Internet as an addiction, as if the existence of technology creates a need to use said technology that was not there before. On a personal level, I completely agree, and I constantly assess the way technology affects my life and my choices and whatever. I try to control the amount of time I spend on the fun Internet things, the number of subscriptions and memberships and tools I use and subscribe to.

But at what point does something “cool” become something “essential?”

The class example was Facebook. Most people in the room, I’m assuming, use Facebook socially. The conversation turned to the weirdness of teens having hundreds of friends on Facebook they didn’t know (“Why is that necessary?”), the weirdness of needing to check Facebook constantly (“I quit for a year, voluntarily, and I found other things to do”), the weirdness of people spreading information “inappropriately” through Facebook (“I found out my friend was PREGNANT! On FACEBOOK. WHAT THE HELL?!” “Somebody posted that they ate a SANDWICH? On FACEBOOK? WHAT THE HELL!?!”), and why do we all NEED to be online so much anyway? (“I barely use Facebook, gawd, you guys are all addicted).

And I started to balk.

So people are checking Facebook too much, and people are putting more and more information out there and the rules of “conduct” for spreading information online is changing.

How can you ask people – especially – teens to “opt out” of technology because you think the whole thing is WEIRD and OBSESSIVE?

Like I said, I’ve thought about this in my own life, about whether I’m “addicted” to checking my email and my Facebook.

And yeah, I probably am addicted to the process, to the clicking and the reading and the feeding boredom perpetually without pausing to think.

But there’s nothing about FACEBOOK itself that is inherently bad.

It’s just the place where my friends are, the place where people “hang out” on the Internet, the place where we exchange information – important and not. I feel connected to my friends and family that live far away by reading a stupid status telling me they are tired because they had to work late, and they feel connected to me. If I didn’t have Facebook chat, I wouldn’t be able to talk to one of my best friends who is stationed overseas, or see pictures of her new baby. If a friend from college was visiting or moving to Boston, I would have no idea, we wouldn’t meet up for lunch or a cup of coffee even though I would probably like to.

If I decided to go the Puritanical route and give up Facebook for good, it would be like closing my bedroom door to the weird community of people in my life, past and present.

Facebook isn’t just a random url, a time-suck, a dirty habit.

It’s a tool.

Well played, Mark Zuckerberg.

grown up things

1. Cash for the Merchandise

I just signed up for my second credit card.

I know, everyone just gasped and shook their fingers at the computer screen. I know my boyfriend did. I know Dave Ramsey did. Because Dave Ramsey definitely reads my blog.

Why does everyone jump to conclusions? Are 20-somethings, as a whole, REALLY all that irresponsible with money that anytime I mention the word “credit,” even people who KNOW me and my tightwad ways gasp and shake their fingers and try to talk me out of it? I didn’t apply for a credit card until a year out of college, when I was working and knew I could potentially pay for it. I applied for a Spirit Air Mastercard so I could get cheap flights. I was denied, since I had no credit history, but I was approved for a Capital One card, which I’ve had for two years now and have yet to pay a single cent of interest on. I never put more money on my card then I know I will be able to pay off. Some months, I don’t use it at all. My limit was raised once, but I laughed, because I knew I would never charge up the old limit because it was too much money.

But y’all are making me nervous. I got approved for that Spirit Air Mastercard that I wanted, but there’s this stigma about it the pretty shiny white plastic. I don’t want to touch it. It might bite me.

What ever happened to building good credit? Is that irrelevant, now that we have all sunk ourselves so far into debt, just the fact that you have an okay credit score is good enough? When I want to buy a car, or a house, am I going to be able to? According to Dave Ramsey, I should by a car in full. I don’t know about a house. Dave Ramsey says you should pay down your debt as quickly as possible, including your mortgage, but what does he say about acquiring one? Nothing. What does he say about paying off your student loans? “Well, you should have applied for more scholarships.” Thanks, Dave.

The financial climate I’m getting from my friends, neighbors, and pop-culture is that we have all messed things up really badly, so let’s talk about how to get out.

What about those who are just starting? Those of us who, I guess miraculously, made it to 25 with nothing on our backs but student loans?

2. Text Nation

In July of 2009, I dropped my purse in the commuter parking lot in Marshall, Michigan. I was juggling bags-o-swag from visiting the ALA exhibits in Chicago, and I didn’t notice when I lost that one important little pouch. This story gets weird here, but basically, someone saw it lying lonely in the parking lot and got a hold of my mother before we left the city. I may or may not have been breaking into my library after 11 pm to steal Guitar Hero when this phone call was recieved.

Anyway, long story short, I got my purse back, but when I opened my cellular telephone, it became apparent that I not only left the poor thing behind, but ran it over with my mother’s PT Cruiser.

I’ve never had texting on my plan, but I would send/receive 5-10 texts a month, when it was the more optimal way to communicate. But now, I can neither send a coherent text message nor understand those sent to me. Heck, I can’t even tell who the text is from, actually. I have to use barely visible context clues. “Does that say octopus? Who would send me a text about an octopus? Probably Frank… but maybe Betsy.”

“Get a new phone!” everyone says. And yes, my contract has been up since LAST March. So I can get a new phone. A number of things got in the way.

• March 2009 – July 2009: I was getting ready to move, and hesitant to drop a few hundred dollars that I might need to move
• August 2009 – November 2009: Money was still touch and go, paychecks unsteady, savings insufficient to stave off feelings of panic
• December 2009 – January 2010: Oh snap, I have to buy CHRISTMAS presents??!! And then be totally broke for a month afterward? Oy vey, being a grown up is not so fun.

Only now, in this February/March period of time, a full calendar year after my contract with Sprint has ended, it’s conceivable that I could get a new phone. And with my tax returns starting to trickle in, I’m thinking it’s time. But now I’m struck with indecision.

Option #1: Get a phone like the one I have, which cost me 50 bucks at the time, but would now probably run me between free and 30. Keep bill low, continue to live a text-free existence.

I’m actually, philosophically cool with this choice. I’ve never been a Phone Person. To my friends’ annoyance, I don’t text, I don’t always answer, I *usually* return calls, but not always, and often I leave my phone in the car/coat pocket/boyfriend’s house/freezer and not notice for 6 hours… or 6 days.

Is there something WRONG with this lifestyle? Am I missing out on some fundamental human, social experience because I don’t pay for text messaging?

Option #2: Get a phone like the one I have, add texts. My bill would probably go up by 5 dollars, if that.

I could submit. I might have more friends if I texted, and I don’t even think I’m joking. It’s the new casual-communication method, and since I’m new to town, I don’t have many friends who are beyond that sphere of Casual Communication, and since I don’t text, I’m probably just That Girl From Some Other Planet With That Blog.

Again, I’m philosophically cool with being Other Planet Girl.

But friends are fun, nice things to have, and good for your well-being and your career.

So maybe I should bite the bullet.

Option #3: Get a super fancy phone, add texts and internet. In for an inch, in for a mile?

So let’s say I take option #2, get totally into texting and become a Phone Girl. Now, I love my phone and want my phone to be my best friend forever. However, since I was cheap, my phone is also a piece of crap, so the extended time spent fiddling with it because irksome. What if I want something shinier? Something even MORE useful? Something, dare I say, “smart?”

Two years is a long time to wait for another contract to end – those fancy phones will run you 200-400 dollars full price.

There’s also the jealousy factor here. Every person in the world has an iPhone/Blackberry/whatever, but what really gets me is my STUPID SISTERS. Betsy just bought a Hero. Caroline’s had a Blackberry since her 14th birthday. Dorothy has something with a touch screen, and I’ve had the same phone since she was 11.

But the plans are OUTRAGEOUS, especially when adding a line for Lance might be an necessity in a few months when his own plan is up. 80 dollars a month, minimum, just to HAVE the phone. That would be doubling my cell phone bill. Who in the world can justify that? Am I the only person on the planet with a tight budget? Who, when adding 30-40 dollars a month to a cell phone bill would, essentially, be subtracting that money from my savings account or my meager monthly “spending” stipend?

How does anyone pay for these cell phone bills?

Credit cards. Right?

my two cents is free

Things are getting a little fluffy around these parts.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy fluff. Love it, actually. But there’s a time and a place for everything, and this time and place is officially reserved for hard hitting issues. What I really feel about some timely and serious topics. So brace yourself. This is uncensored, tell-it-like-it-is World Commentary, coming directly at you.

Go!

Swine Flu

Everyone’s making a big fat deal about it. And just like when Facebook 2.0 rolled on through, there are definitely cries being heard from the dissenters. “Facebook 2.0 sucks!” say the masses. “Stop whining. Facebook is supposed to change!” holler the dissenters. “Swine flu is out to get me! Hand me a surgical mask and for the love of God stop coughing on me!” say the masses. “Swine flu is no more dangerous than regular flu, you freaks,” say the dissenters. “Slow your roll and stop engulfing the world in a false panic!”

I agree with the dissenters – our country, our world, is overly driven by fear and panic and all those other post 9-11 sociological issues. That sucks. Thinking Swine Flu/Bird Flu/SARS/Ebola/Mad Cow/Salmonella/Killer Bees are going to kill you sucks.

However.

I tend to think that panic serves a purpose when it comes to potential pandemics. It might seem ridiculous to us wealthy, well-bathed Americans, to get up in arms about a flu that’s no dangerous than the average strain, but in order to protect the majority of our world that have  lesser immune systems (i.e. The Elderly, The Malnourished, Those Who Do Not Have Readily Available Health Care), maybe a panic is what it takes to stop the spread of disease.

We have yet to master the diseases we’ve got. I don’t blame ANYONE for creating a panic when the purpose is to prevent Swine Flu from turning into next century’s AIDS, Malaria, TB, Polio.

America’s Next Top Model

It’s like candy – you only want a taste, but you end up eating the whole bag.

But out of every television show on air right now? This is the one you should keep your preteen/teenage girls away from.

There are few things more dangerous to an average-sized, less-than-confident young woman than a television show where the average weight of the cast is under 130 pounds, where bones are an accessory to a skimpy outfit, where a common plotline is “who is anorexic? who needs to quit stuffing their faces so they can REALLY make it as a model? who is TOO skinny? who’s the Plus-Sized model, I can’t tell!”

Parents, beware.

Boredom

Is best treated with this game.

Supreme Court Nominations

Justice Souter surely had a good run on the bench. And I’m so glad that Obama is getting a chance to name some new Justices. Naming Supreme Court Justices, in my humblest of opinions, is one of the most influential moves a President can make, and is the most delightful part of the checks&balances that keep our country on a steady track.

I think we need another lady judge. Heck I think we need 3 or 4 more lady judges.

I think that we should forget about pretending these justices are 100% neutral about every issue. It’s silly (who doesn’t have an opinion on abortion, par exampluh?) especially when you’ve read a few of these justice’s opinions. They do take sides on issues, regardless of whether they back up their choices with theory, law, or personal preference, those sides are there and will remain there.

That being said, let’s protect Roe v. Wade!

Where I’m Going To Library School

All roads seem to be leading me to Boston.

My remaining two choices – Rutgers and Simmons – offer top notch educational experiences, youth focused programs, and E.X.P.E.N.S.I.V.E. tuition and living expenses. So I’ll be simultaneously fucked & having a ball at either place.

So if I’m gonna shell out the big bucks, why not pay 1000/month for an apartment in a major metropolitan area instead of 1000/month for a condo in SuburbanJers?

But it’s not final yet. Don’t quote me on that or anything.

Monday, I’m In Love

I’m head over heels for “May it Please the Court” by Maira Kalman.

Two things I’m always a little mushy about:

Illustrations

&

The Supreme Court

Enjoy!