Whether you've ventured onto MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Arkut, or SecondLife yet; and whether you've tried Digg, Buzz, Reddit, or Newser, chances are you've heard of at least a few of these social networking/social bookmarking websites (SNS).
The bottom line of the SNS world is you have new opportunities to meet people or reconnect with those who have fallen away somewhere in the past.
Much like email, and blogs, a robust virtual SNS world has emerged that will soon be ubiquitous. Many who hold back have legitimate worries about preserving their privacy. But there are other issues to consider.
I value my personal privacy as much as anyone, but I'm also acutely aware that feeling disconnected from others is the loneliest, most alienated state I've ever been in.
Of course there are risks involved in being connected too -- both in the physical world and the virtual realm. Friends can become overly needy or encroach boundaries, they may require help that's hard to give, or get you into trouble you may have avoided on your own.
In my experience, the "real world" is a much more dangerous place than the virtual one.
And the rewards of finding so many new friends, and reconnecting with so many old ones, is the primary joy (for me) of the Internet.
-30-
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Okay, on to our new daily feature: What is that?
So, what is today's mystery food pictured at the top of this post?
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(The answer to yesterday's quiz: Pickled Green Tomatoes.)
1 comment:
Are those sliced radishes?
Pickled green tomatoes: never heard of them! They are beautiful.
Meanwhile, I am a member of the Well, but I got tired and am taking a break from it. One of the reasons is, I feel the same people say the same things and have the same arguments, whether we're in the politics conference or the news conference or the gun conference. And yes, I guess that goes for me too. I roll out the same rant about my pet subjects.
But I think the Well is the best. There is a feeling of history and relationship and shared past.
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