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You want your kids to relate to you, right? You want to be cool, don’t you? Maybe you should try to relate to them? Novel idea. Do you remember all the DUMB things your parents liked and did? Do you really think you’re any different?
My family accuses me of always being on the computer. Well, I am on the computer a lot, that is my work. I write, I tweet, I Facebook, I host and participate in tweet chats, and I do a radio show. Plus, I write a comic strip and other assorted things like fully redesigning BruceSallan.com right now. I imagine if I went to an outside office vs. work at home, their impression might be a bit different.
So, for the fun of it, for them and for those of you wondering what a busy day looks like in the life of someone active in social media and traditional media, for that matter, let’s take a look at Thursday’s timeline!
First air date: Thursday, November 10, 2011
Featured guests:
Wayne Levine (BetterMenCoaching) for “The Men’s Room”
Jim Scheinberg (North Pier Fiduciary Management) for “Family Financial Matters.”
This show is about “Why Dad and Mom NEED Social Media.”
I’ve had my “A Dad’s Point-of-View” Facebook page for about a year. I LOVE IT. It’s literally been a life-changer for me. It’s named after my column and radio show: “A Dad’s Point-of-View.” As of today (2/27/11), it has just shy of 3,500 members, as I like to call them.
Originally, Facebook pages called those who joined pages “fans,” but they changed it to a less clear designation later. Now, instead of becoming a “fan” of a Facebook page, which was the original option, you choose to “like” a page — does that make you a “liker?” Again, I prefer “member,” especially for my page where “fan” would be insulting given that we’re all on the same page, as parents.
Facebook made a minor change in how its interface worked, if that is even the right terminology. I went into a minor fit, immediately e-mailing a techie friend for help, in my momentary panic, because it seemed my Facebook “Wall” was gone! My friend was unavailable and after a little while of searching around on my profile and my “page,” I was able to figure it out and all was again well with the world.
I realized how my parents felt when they were trying to learn to program their VCR and never could master what seemed like such a simple thing to me. How such a minor change on Facebook could panic me and result in my kids looking at me cross-eyed like I was a simpleton (well, my kids do that all the time) was almost comical.
Sexting, texting, e-mail, Twitter, MySpace, NetFlix, Facebook, formspring (not a mattress company), “smart” phones, iPads, iPods, laptops, etc. That’s the world our kids live in. And, it’s moving faster everyday! Can we trust our kids with social media?
For me, it was a library card, and a book, on a roller-skate, which my friends and I would use to go down the hill where we lived. Oh, we also played a made-up game we called “Mongoose,” in which we hit a ping pong ball back and forth with two books, the object being to do it as long as possible. We had a phone, but its use was limited. TV was only on weekends. And, there were just three networks and not much else.
That just ain’t the world no more! With the recent spat of texting related violent incidents, I’m beginning to question what boundaries we parents should consider for our kids, especially our teens, with these social media devices. My 16-year-old got into a mess of peer trouble with an impolitic facebook post. It was stupid, but not that big a deal. At my urging, he even publicly apologized (and in a well-written, not too self-deprecating fashion – I was impressed).
I had lunch with a good friend the other day and the subjects we covered really made an impact on me, as I reflected on them. I had just come from a lesson in using social media, where I’m learning the new technologies that are popular in our culture now, such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkenin, Smart Phones, I-everythings, etc.
While I’m not a total novice, I do admit that every time a new “thing” comes out, it fills me with dread. I face having to learn it, figure it out, and even understand it. Frankly, I did not “get” Twitter at all until my lessons finally penetrated my middle-aged, failing hard-drive of a brain. And that was also after reading “Twitter for Dummies”–and I’m not kidding.
I hate New Year’s Resolutions. I swore I’d never write one. I misspoke. So, this is going to be a New Year’s Resolutions column, with a twist: it will include both resolutions and wishes. I am going to mix my own personal resolutions and wishes with those I project for others, and the world. In no particular order, herewith my New Year’s Resolutions and wishes:
* I hope for a New Year with true conciliation and dialogue between our political parties and, on a more personal level, between each of us that may differ on a particular political issue. It has gotten way too divisive and angry.
