MadScam

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Hi George,

I know what you mean. I had somebody on Facebook wanting to befriend me recently and I quickly shut her down when her avatar exposed sugar dumplings. facebook is a great way to meet old friends and make new ones who have much in common. However, there are times when it all goes a bit haywire, and facebook need to do something about it.

I always maintain my computer is offline when I am. It makes sure no bugs can infiltrate a sleeping system, and just adds extra security without extra cost. Twitter I find is just that. It's too short to have substantial content. Too short to be a great read, but I'm sure it fills a a gap for someone somewhere

who dines out on birdseed. A sort of Annorexic blogging. I'll tell you enough to make you hungry, but not enough to nourish.

Hi George, I sympathise and empathise with your situation. I have, in the region of, ten different social networking accounts but use only one and that rarely. I work in advertising so I have to "experience the medium" to gain any half-decent understanding. The other nine or so, are so I can jump in and see what the rest of the world are doing, test apps and view the new ad formats presented in them. That said, I'd recommend not cancelling your account but keep it open so you can pop in and have a look around when something new happens. Just take down all your details and put up a sign - Gone to lunch.

They, social networks, are as said before, like nightclubs, trendy today and gone tomorrow. But like nightclubs you can't be in all of them at the same time. So, don't close them, just go to lunch. That is, unless you're some sort of needy freak wanting constant attention and that attention is not even real, it's virtual. I'm sure you're not in that basket.

That said, I now have a nephew and a niece (actually 4 of one, 5 of the other) of the ages 11 and 12 who are constantly in their room playing video games or surfing or doing traditional kids stuff requiring imagination. I say surfing because like their parents I'm not really sure what they spend their time at on the web. Bar the startled look on their faces when I knock to enter their little den, they seem to be just chatting with mates. Like I walked in on a private conversation. But, at that age, if my mum walked in while I had a copy of The Sun or Edith's latest escapade with George, Timmy and the dog I'd still have had a startled look too. I'm gone on a tangent sorry.... plethora of social networks, yes. Well, my nephew, Eoghan, has 4. He's a bit meh about all of them which made me think that, yes, these kids may be on the web but are they engaging the way marketers seem to think they are. I don't think so. As you've pointed out, like my 12 year old nephew, you are using the web strictly for a singular communication with someone else. he may stick up a few pics on his "wall" or the like but kids have been doing that since kids became what we now know as teens. Does he bother with twits and apps, no. He seemed to think I was some sort of oldie getting in his way when I asked if he was on twitter. He assumed a look, with raised brow, that said it's all a fad.

So, George, I dunno what age you are but you seem to have something in common with my 12 year old nephew. I wish I did.

If you have no reason to be using them, I'd agree that you should stop using them. You can always join again later.

Actually the reason for persisting is actually those hundred bloody emails a day you receive.

Social media stand in the same relation to email as the Victorian postcard stood to the letter. The latter was formal, insistent and demanded a reply. The latter was a casual fyi - "just in case you want to know" and did not demand any response.

Far too many emails are sent which should be tweets or facebook posts. I don't want someone forwarding me a funny article in Wired to send it to me by email, thereby putting me under the burden of reading it - alongside 100 more pressing things I have to do that day. On the other hand, if I am at a loose end at Gatwick for an hour I might visit Facebook and see what's going down - and read the article then.

My email is a duty read. I like Twitter and FB precisely because I consume them at a different time to my email and in a different mood. Best of all, when ignored they go away. I don't come back from holiday to find 1000 unread tweets waiting for me!

Yer right our George

At't end o't day it's all shite intit