The future just hit me like a Nolan Ryan bean ball.
At a recent meeting I was told I needed to, “…get on Facebook and Twitter.” Instantly, an involuntary shudder ran through my body. Sure, I’ve heard about those things. A lot of my friends are on Facebook, or My Space, or Twitter. But not me. Hey, I draw cartoons. It’s a low-tech skill. We use pencils and ink and paper. I thought I could get away with never being a part of those community websites.
But then again, I thought I could get through a career without ever being stationed in DC, and that didn’t exactly work out either.
So in the months ahead, I’m going to dive in. My wife is already there. She’ll be my mentor as I explore the new frontiers of “face booking” and “twittering”. I’ll agonize over “friend requests”, and wait in sweaty anticipation to be “accepted.” I’ll die a thousand deaths with every rejection.
To be honest, the communications medium is changing quickly nowadays. Military Times has done a good job of embracing the web and enhancing its online content, so I guess I’d better jump on board and ride the wave with them. As a matter of fact, my wife just told me about a “Fans of Broadside” group in Facebook, created by a fellow named David Beans (you need a Facebook account to see it), so maybe this will work out after all.
As I begin the journey, I can promise one thing. I’ll always remember the Golden Rule of community websites:
Tweet others as you would have them tweet you.
3 Comments
Yeah, during my last sea tour, most of my wardroom was sucked into the Facebook scene, and I use it a lot for keeping in touch with friends and shipmates.
I don’t get the Twitter thing though. I mean, it seems just like posting your status on Facebook, but (a) I find it easier to post my status on Facebook Mobile on my cell phone than on Twitter, and (b) you can do so much more with Facebook. Not sure why people duplicate and do both Facebook and Twitter.
Yeah, I would avoid Twitter, it seems like a waste of time. Out of the three, Facebook is probably the best site to get involved with.
Good luck and godspeed!
Garcia here; I’m still waiting on that letter!!!