Stick in the Mud

I never dreamed that I would end up sounding like my parents. I still remember my mother shouting my name because the word processing program at the time (probably Word Perfect) wasn't doing something she wanted it to do. I would dutifully go in there and fix the simple problem. I find myself doing that a lot these days in education. Education is kind of a funny business in the sense that there are very few educators in their late thirties and early forties. Most are either in their twenties or early thirties or they seem to be in their late forties or early fifties.

It's also an interesting business in that we continually get trained on how we can use the new technology in the classroom, but we never seem to get the new technology in the classroom. Therefore, the older and more experienced teachers have the dual response of knowing we won't get that technology and also knowing that they have gotten by for more than twenty years without it. So, they never learn the little things about Microsoft Outlook, Word, or Excel. They didn't need it back in 1980 and they don't need it now. The rest of us end up helping them out in the short-term.

When I was at the Catholic school I ended up inheriting a title that was loosely called "Technology Translator." Our fund-raising and development person doubled as the the computer guru. Like a typical guru. they skipped from Point A to Point V without filling in the blanks. I would take her process and then fill in the blanks for the rest of the teachers. It was an older faculty for the most part and we had begun the process of doing all grades online.

I give you this painful introduction because I want to make sure no one thinks I am a typical old fuddy duddy that hates technology. I have written three books and write two blogs with the help of technology, the internet, and other new inventions that make life a whole lot easier. However, I have to call shenanigans on the new social sites like Facebook and Twitter. I have a Facebook page, but I am reluctant to take up the Twitter bandwagon. There are two alarming trends that I find on those type of sites.

First, I notice that I am friends with a lot of people from high school that I never talked to in high school. It never dawned on me before, but I look at my page and notice I have more than 200 friends. Of course, I have some marketing motives that go along with the standard social angle. I want people to buy my book. I don't have Rupert Murdoch to give me a huge advance or a top-notch advertising team for free. My publisher charge me for the normal advertising stuff the big time authors take for granted. I have to do a lot of the work myself. So, I have a lot of Facebook friends.

So, I put my friends into four separate categories: family, real friends, acquitenances, local celebrities. Family and real friends is probably what the inventors of these social sites had in common. It is an easy way to communicate with a lot of people at the same time. If you have a get together you have planned then you can post it to your wall for everyone to see. The downside? Everyone can see it. The acquitenances are a funny group. Some people invited me and sometimes I invited them. I remember the ten year reunion sucking, so maybe these sites will make the 20 year more enjoyable. Somehow, I am doubting that. Then, you get your local celebrities. For me, that serves two purposes. First, they can help me promote my book somehow. Secondly, I get to say I am so and so's friend.

Having not twitted (I know that's wrong, but tweeting just doesn't make sense) I can only go with what I know. The second trend is something that pertains to both of those sites. To put it bluntly, I don't care what you are having for dinner, whether you are going to the gym, or the fact that your mashed potatos came out runny. I don't care what show you are watching or what club you are going to this weekend. I only would care if I am coming over for dinner, meeting you at the gym, or going clubbing with you. I like pictures of the kids as long as its not excessive. Halloween pictures are cool and pictures around the holidays are nice too. That being said, I should not hear from you everyday unless you are my wife or daughter.

I think that is a general theme from the past twenty years. It takes time for etiquette to catch up with technology. People still talk loudly on their cellphones and people will still talk about mundane crap on their Twitter page for awhile. I am not on Twitter and don't plan on being on Twitter. My Astros blog manager asked us to consider it if we aren't opposed to it. I guess, but don't expect any, "The pretzels are really hard tonight, I wish I had ordered cheese with them" out of my twitts. Don't expect me to tell you I had a ham and cheese sub for dinner tonight. Otherwise, happy twitting for all I suppose.