It took a major economic meltdown for us to recognize the problem with greed in the free market. I wonder what it's going to take for us to recognize the problem with desultory behavior created by social-networking technologies?
There's been a rash of postings related to Twitter and other social-networking technologies here on the PT Blogs and elsewhere. The most recent is Pamela Rutledge's Ten things I like about Twitter. I think her posting was very insightful and balanced. Of course, the 8th item in her list got my attention.
Pamela wrote, "Twitter is a great tool for procrastinating, although procrastinators do not need Twitter to get the job done. Believe me, however, it is much better than cleaning the bathroom when you have a project you don't want to start."
I agree, if I'm going to procrastinate, I'd rather spend a little time in computer-mediated communication with friends or even strangers than cleaning the bathroom (although I may feel more accomplished later with a clean bathroom than a clean email inbox, updated status page or a flurry of tweets).
However, I don't want to write about procrastination. Pamela is right, "procrastinators do not need Twitter to get the job done." Twitter and other social-networking tools do not cause procrastination, but they do create a problem. That problem is desultory behavior.
Desultory - From Latin desultorius - "hasty, casual, superficial", from desultor - "a circus rider who jumped from one galloping horse to another" - That's quite an image!
Various dictionary definitions include: going constantly from one subject to another esp. digressively and unmethodically; disconnected, random or occasional; marked by lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose; not connected with the main subject; disappointing in progress, performance, or quality
To have your behavior, your life, described as desultory is not a compliment. Yet that's the nature of the lives of so many people who stay connected through text messages, Facebook updates and Twitter. Interruptions to whatever else they're doing are constant, creating desultory behavior. There is a bit of a circus here, with the social-networker "jumping from one galloping horse to another."
It's particularly ironic, I think, that these social-networking tools are meant to keep us connected, yet the very definition of desultory includes the notion of "disconnected." The desultory behavior throughout the day required to seek or maintain social connections may disconnect us from ourselves and our goals. I think these social-networking tools even disconnect us from the real (not virtual) world around us. I see this with students on campus every day.
Pamela notes that Twitter "makes marketing types salivate." Of course it does. It's often behavior that is out of control and ripe for manipulation.
I feel the same about Twitter and Facebook as I do about Vegas and video lottery terminals. Each is entertaining, and each has the potential to harness some of the most pathetic aspects of human nature. The alarming thing is that while we might recognize the problem with the gambler who risks everything (and there are many), we see the compulsive use of social networking as less problematic. We believe we are getting connected like never before. Are we? Perhaps we're becoming disconnected like never before.
We're on the verge of economic regulations that are meant to rein in some of the worst parts of human nature in relation to greed and a free market. I think it's important that we recognize the potential problem with celebrating unfettered technology use as if it were some sort of virtue of a new age. As individuals, it's time to rein in some of the worst parts of our own human nature as we compulsively stay connected in the virtual circus.
