Lee Love on sat 30 oct 10
On Facebook, Kelly turned me on to police and fire
scanning online. Is a real flashback for me. I worked as a public
safety radio dispatcher during college.
Privacy concerns are easy to deal with. Like Kelly says, you
just need to do your homework.
--
=3DA0Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mingeisota.blogspot.com/
=3D93Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel
the artistry moving through and be silent.=3D94 --Rumi
Kelly Savino on sat 30 oct 10
Worries about privacy: There is really no shortcut for taking the time to l=
ook at tutorials, read the instructions, and find out how the buttons work.=
Set up your account so that you have all the privacy you want. If you don'=
t, it's your bad. Unlike clayart and other public venues, the photos/commen=
ts/details you post on facebook are NOT readable by everyone in the wide wo=
rld who wants to google you -- if you choose, it's only available to the tr=
usted friends you specifically invite to see your stuff. So wailing about b=
eing exposed is kind of pointless, when you have the option of keeping as "=
covered up" as you like.
As for targeted advertising: I don't access any application that are allowe=
d to contact my friends list. It is kind of amusing that the ads in the rig=
ht hand margin have clearly keyed into my age, demographic, politics (all o=
f which I volunteered) and some key words that pop up in discussion. My fre=
e email accounts have been doing that forever. I was comparing my ads with =
my husband's and on a whim, went in and changed my gender, age, and other i=
nformation to laugh about how the ads changed. (Viagra, anyone?) But any ad=
that annoys or offends me can be X'ed as well -- and I can choose to let t=
hem know why I don't like it.
The quality of correspondence: If you find facebook boring, you need more i=
nteresting friends -- or you need to limit your friend group to the people =
you care enough about to want to hear about their day. If you accidentally=
friend someone whose posts you don't like, just unfriend them. They don't =
get a note saying so, and will never know unless they specifically look you=
up. Easier still, hide them. You can hover to the right of any name, post,=
or comment, and a little X will appear. You will be given the choice of de=
leting whichever game, quiz or app you never wish to see again -- and poof,=
it's gone and won't be back -- or to hide the person who has annoyed you, =
and likewise never hear another word.
I have been playing scrabble for more than a year now with a high school bo=
yfriend and several pals from clayart/nceca. But in general, I don't want a=
nybody else's games on my facebook page. I "hid" all the farmville, mafia, =
gifts, marketing stuff so long ago I have almost forgotten they exist, and =
I eliminate new ones when they arise. So my facebook page is all people, al=
l the time.
Facebook as a danger to marriage: pah. A huge number of relationships now s=
tart on line... they used to start in bars. If a marriage is in trouble and=
someone goes astray, it doesn't much matter where they found their new div=
ersion. It was never the fault of the bar, either. My husband and I hang ou=
t on each others pages, meet each others old friends, see pictures posted f=
rom years ago. My teenagers are on facebook and I am on their pages too, se=
eing their friends and pix from school events, and listening in on their co=
nversations the same way they can with mine, (if they care to.) I have ever=
ybody's password because I am mom and mom is queen.
I have been collecting potters on facebook, and several from around the wor=
ld offer themselves every week for introduction; I can look at pots even if=
I don't speak Turkish. More importantly, I can share pictures with my fami=
ly, plan events with the moms of my girl scouts, keep in touch with long lo=
st cousins and friends from two grad schools at different ends of the count=
ry... post links like the new free digital issue of the fall Clay Times, or=
youtubes of fascinating artwork. I can advertise my kid's upcoming play (l=
ittle shop of horrors: he's seymour) and find out about gallery events and =
what's fresh at my town's farmers market. Do I worry that I bore people on =
facebook who don't care about my daily stuff? Not at all, because they real=
ly DO have a delete button that can erase my posts from their life for good=
. (Unlike clayart digests in which I have to scroll past annoying posts and=
will myself not to look.)
As to why we care to read about triviata like what's in a potter's garden, =
or kiln -- pix of grandbabies or goat babies -- birds at the feeder and fav=
orite books -- well, that's what day to day life is made of. My mom and I t=
alk daily and rarely discuss major world events. My friends and I share sma=
ll stories and details... my husband and I lie in bed at night and talk abo=
ut the rusty hinge on the dovecote, what to put in the rotisserie for sunda=
y, who paid the water bill. There is more to human interaction than headlin=
es and information.
Clayart used to be more like that, too. Joyce posted stories about her mama=
, mel shared stories about family and neighbors, David talked about his pro=
jects, Tony told great (and sometimes bawdy) stories, and even informative =
posts ended with a friendly bit of trivia of the sort I now see in facebook=
status updates. I value clayart and I treasure the archives but I have to =
admit that there is are an absurd number of bloggy posts from me, in there.=
I always felt like I was writing to those clayarters I knew in real life, =
and was encouraged by emails from people who said they loved my stories... =
but in retrospect there were probably as many who were annoyed. Once that b=
ecome clear to me, and once I discovered that there were folks on clayart w=
ho don't play nice, I stopped sharing that stuff.
I belong to lists for beekeeping, parenting, gardening, wood-fired bread ov=
ens, and on and on. All list servers have their quirks, benefits and liabil=
ities. Some seem built around an ego or two, some seem like an endless supp=
ly of beginners giving each other iffy answers... some are a framework wait=
ing to be peopled. None have the archive/gathered expertise of clayart. I r=
arely have time to read digests anymore, though. I check in on facebook wit=
h my morning coffee, sometimes at lunch, and always at bedtime when I have =
a bowl of cereal. It's a magazine, not a novel: glance at photos, read what=
engages you, ignore the rest.
The point is, though: facebook can be customized to suit your needs. Some b=
other to learn how, some don't. That's fine. Why try to talk others out of =
enjoying it? it reminds me of an old joke about sex that I won't repeat her=
e ...but the punch line is, "maybe you're doing it wrong." ;0}
Yours
Kelly in Ohio
primalmommy in days of yore
Jennifer Boyer on sun 31 oct 10
Well said Kelly. Now that I have older kids(26 and 34) sprinkled around th=
e
country I treasure the conversation with them and their friends. Yesterday =
I
saw the sonogram shared by my daughter's friend Keri, who spent ALOT of tim=
e
in my house as a child and teenager. The reaction from all the old school
friends was priceless. And around here you are liable to see numerous pix o=
f
a particularly dramatic sunset, from down the road, across town. I was able
to ask the local meteorologist if today would be a high pressure day, good
for gas kiln firing. The answer was no. :-( And the pic of the week was an
albino red tailed hawk a friend saw a few towns over. All good,,,,I too
have axed all the obnoxious game apps. I do admit to a Lexulous(like
Scrabble) addiction.
On Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 10:02 PM, Kelly Savino
wrote:
>
> The quality of correspondence: If you find facebook boring, you need more
> interesting friends -- or you need to limit your friend group to the peop=
le
> you care enough about to want to hear about their day. If you accidental=
ly
> friend someone whose posts you don't like, just unfriend them. They don't
> get a note saying so, and will never know unless they specifically look y=
ou
> up. Easier still, hide them. You can hover to the right of any name, post=
,
> or comment, and a little X will appear. You will be given the choice of
> deleting whichever game, quiz or app you never wish to see again -- and
> poof, it's gone and won't be back -- or to hide the person who has annoye=
d
> you, and likewise never hear another word.
>
>
> Yours
> Kelly in Ohio
> primalmommy in days of yore
>
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