Getting why I don’t get it

Getting why I don’t get it

Have you ever woken up one morning and thought you might be losing your edge? Then you begin to question your knowledge and experience in determining useful aspects of modern society. I get this way a bit when I struggle with problems for an extended period. Recently, I have been struggling with my understanding of the latest and greatest in social-media technologies. From a pure technical standpoint, I find many of the new technologies interesting and compelling to certain segments of the population. However, I just do not find them personally useful. Is this a sign of age or the simple fact that I just do not “get it”?

This has bothered me for some time now. Being in the Information Technology sector, I am “supposed” to understand modern Internet and social-media technologies and their usefulness…I should “get it.” Like I said, I do understand the basic premise and application of services like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, digg, StumbleUpon, etc., but I have never been sure that I “get it”. It is somewhat funny where the epiphanies of life happen. While slowly driving down Interstate 5 on way home from the office, I regularly contemplate many things. It finally hit me; I already have my voice.

My struggle for understanding of the usefulness of many of these social-media applications is predicated on the fact that I have already found my “Internet voice.” While this blog is certainly no screaming success, it is my Internet voice. For me, these other social-media applications become noise and clutter. This is why I have been struggling with the “get it” factor of social-media applications. When a person can say or write what they want, whenever they want, then additional applications that allow them to do essentially the same thing present minimal value.

This realization actually made me a little giddy and has reopened up the world of social-media applications to me. I no longer feel stress or pressure in trying to understand how I should be using these platforms in my life. I can rest easy knowing that it is fine for me to experiment and understand these applications for what they are without feeling as if I need to bring them into my regular usage zone.

I know this is a strange post from me, but heck it is my blog, and it was an important realization for me.

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