Monday, October 12, 2009

34

Linking my blog to Facebook has been a fascinating experience. All 600+ friends are alerted when I write something. Some are encouraged. Others not so much. I do get feedback. Some I like. Other times not so much.

Here’s 34 things I’ve learned as a blogger and Facebooker.

1. Anything political gets a response.
2. Conservatives are the first to engage.
3. Graceless engagement stops others from participating.
4. People with strong opinions usually are the most graceless.
5. Liberals use questions more than conservatives.
6. Both liberals and conservatives get testy when their thinking is challenged.
7. A lot of people don’t know how to express themselves in writing.
8. We love to label people.
9. Christians, for the most part, have a narrow view of who they are and what God really intends.
10. I get the impression that punditainers do a lot of the heavy lifting for people.
11. People deny that they’re influenced by punditainers but then quote one of them as a defense.
12. There’s a lot of meanness in cyber space.
13. We’ve lost the art of healthy, written interchange.
14. Anything tongue in cheek gets lost in translation.
15. There’s a very sick, over the top conservatism, that’s alive and well that scares me.
16. There’s a very sick, over the top liberalism, that’s alive and well that scares me.
17. I saw a web site yesterday of Patriot Christians and I was afraid, very afraid.
18. Some people are really trying to figure it all out. Too many think they already have.
19. I think faith is at best the ‘wallpaper’ on the walls of most people’s life and not the foundation it should be.
20. The church is losing its influence.
21. We’re not reading much anymore that has length and substance and nuance.
22. People are busy but not too busy to spend an inordinate time on Facebook.
23. People will watch a five minute video but won’t read an entire blog entry or an entire article.
24. Whole bunches of people believe they’re Mafia crime bosses.
25. There is a whole lot of incredibly wonderful people with fascinating insights on things.
26. Social networking is here to stay. What an interesting way to stay in touch. It doesn’t beat face to face though.
27. I can’t figure out how social networking pays for itself.
28. People post some very cool stuff.
29. Name calling is considered an intelligent argument.
30. Why would anyone use curse words as part of a Facebook status?
31. I have some very regular contributors to posts who challenge my thinking and allow me to challenge them. They’ve given me insights that prove to be helpful.
32. We don’t get satire anymore. That’s sad.
33. We’ve lost respect for leaders.
34. Too many don't have a diversity of friendships. The people they interact with think and act exactly like them. So, how can they be ever wrong?

Feel free to add to the list. Would love to hear what you've learned and experienced.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

MM--Fantastic insights. I found myself alternating between laughing out loud, nodding and having a gut check.
Jim

Mike said...

Thanks Jim. you helped make my day.