People come. People go. People come back. It takes a lot to surprise me when someone decides to start or stop using a communication media, and when it does it has little to do with the medium itself and a lot to do with social roles and expectations. It’s the nature of social media that they and their networks will never be fitting for all people all the time. Most of the time I don’t get why it is a subject of sustained conversation, much less scrutiny.
I strive (and fail often, but continue trying) to be network neutral. I support the intellectual and expressive capabilities that modern networks provide… the tools– no matter how shiny, sophisticated and new or old, dusty primitive– are just a means to the multiplicity of ends. Diigo or del.icio.us, Mac or PC, Blogger or Wordpress, Twitter or Tumblr… the specific choices of applications and services is of limited interest.
At the same time, I recognize that specifics regarding particular tools are critical at certain stages– particularly those who are just beginning to pursue the craft of network building and participation– in the same way that rather than getting lost in the studio a beginning painter can benefit from being told “use that brush in this way to achieve that effect.” But I do get tired of talking about them.
The most important thing for the beginning painter is to get painting. To do that they need brush (or palette knife, sponge, stick) in hand. All the study in the world won’t produce a painting by itself, so figuring out the tools is necessary. But the end result is mostly interesting without any knowledge of the brand of paint, the weight of the canvas, or even the particular tools used to transfer paint from the palette.
Once that is happening, then the topic of conversation can shift to philosophy and practices… leading to a whole different kind of discomfort.
