Face it. There are ten million other Facebook users who have the time to appear more interesting that you ever will on the internet. They'll have cooler photos, quirky and hip things to say under their "political views" section, and they'll usually have way more friends than you. So, why even bother to compete? You shouldn't!
If you're looking for ways to expand your platform as an artist, especially through Facebook, the most important thing you can do is to act interested rather than be interesting.
I'm not saying you should strike up a chat with people you don't know. (Don't do this if you've never met a person) But you can send a Facebook e-mail and ask a few questions to get to know someone better. It's really a no-brainer. For as much as people say that technology has isolated us, it's really just our continual failure to bring a human element to the medium.
Have you used ways to bridge the human contact gap with technology? IF so, I'd love to hear about them.
Friday, December 18, 2009
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Hey, I met YOU through technology! I'd say that's bridging the human contact gap in a pretty cool way!
ReplyDeleteSlash and I met through Facebook through mutual friends, then a couple of weeks ago I was at a friend's wedding reception and saw a guy who looked familiar. I went up to him and said, "Slash??" "Susan Singer???"
What do you do when you're just seeing a person for the first time whom you feel like you've known a long time?! We hugged then proceeded to have an hour long conversation! It was very cool!
In 1994, in the days before you could browse the Web, my improv troupe in San Francisco got an invite to come perform in Edmonton, Alberta, as part of the Fringe Festival (the local improv troupe not only had a slot in the Fringe, but was running a concurrent "invitational" improv tournament. I was the only one in SF with the availability to go, but was hesitant to make the journey on my own. I went on Usenet, and asked a question on alt.arts.improvisation about what I could expect in Edmonton (at the time, I had no idea of the size and scope of the Fringe there). Not only did the artistic director of the Edmonton improv troupe encourage me, but two virtual contacts (one from Canada, one from New York) chimed in with their experiences and encouragement. I ended up going... and had a great time. Edmonton sold me on Fringe Festivals. I got it (in ways that Orlando and San Francisco hadn't been able to do).
ReplyDeleteTim, you know because of the date you used in your example, it makes the scenario pretty damn kool. Not many people were e-mailing then and connections were very slow. I imagine it made the connections all the more sweeter.
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