Friday, January 7, 2011

Evolving to impersonal communication

What should we do about mailing lists, especially like the Linux users group which cater to people with a common interest?

So, a discussion about posting on one often enough to keep it alive and kicking, made me feel a little guilty. Sharing on mailing lists is quite focused; but sharing on Google Buzz is much easier. The people on my buzz list and the mailing list partially overlap; hence, sharing on both seems like spamming the people I know. Although I use Buzz and even Facebook, I do not like it.

At least on a mailing list, one would write a line or two about why we were sharing a link. An email was even nicer and more personal. With buzz or facebook, it is an impersonal broadcast.

Yet, we have moved on to sharing over far more impersonal channels of communication. We have to click 'like' or re-share instead of saying thanks for sending it and thinking of me.

I suppose this  Tech-Comics-Meeting-a-Facebook-Friend is indeed a reflection of our times.

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