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Saturday, March 28, 2015

The world of chatter.


Would we be aware of our own world if we didn't have that  contorted mirror we call social media and its chatter twentyfour hours a day, and information/gossip being dissected until all the facts no longer exist in real life? What if we lived without the conveniences we rely on so heavily to feel connected? Our phone; our Facebook page; our blogs; our sewing circle...

Here is how I get my news daily as  I have my first cup of coffee:

1. I check my phone for text messages, emails, missed calls and respond to these.
2. I check and interact on my Facebook accounts. (Remember how I came to have more than one?)
3. I browse the New York Times starting with the daily news and visiting my favorite pages such as Opinions, Health, Science, Arts, Recipes and perhaps Home. If an article attracts my attention I share it on Facebook or email it to my self for further analysis.

I used to subscribe to other newspapers in the state and in this region, but I can browse for information quickly by going to Google and saving myself the cost of subscription. Yesterday, after my doctor's visit, I signed up to get weekly recipes from the American Diabetes Association. This morning, in my email account, a lovely recipe for chicken wraps I could have concocted myself, but I do like to get new ideas and new tastes in my household.

Midday, as I take my daily walk in the neighborhood, I will stop and talk to folks who are doing the same. Here is where I find out how the new restaurant is doing, what they serve, what plans they have in the future. I can get daily reports of who was seen where this way. I also notice if a neighbor has been absent for a while and for what reasons. We stop and talk to the workmen improving a vacant house; we get a sense of how the work is progressing, and they get a sense that someone is watching their efforts as well. Absent residents appreciate such intercourse.

Since most of us in town do our major shopping at bigger stores in the surrounding cities, we run into each other at these places and catch up with additional details. Yes, some of us, like Kathie Griffin will forever tease our friends with off-color jokes, and we have to skim the newsworthy tidbits on our dime, but usually, we do want to update our neighbors of our health, our plans for vacation, our plans for visiting or hosting relatives, even our plans for major changes.  Sharing in a small town is mandatory.

I have friends on Facebook I have never met. They share enough for me to get a glimpse of their lives,and their inclinations. If they are way too preachy or way too conservative in their views, I tend to skip their posts. I nod their way now and then, just to be polite. All and all, I am glad to know a bit of their world, even try to understand their point of view; but I do not spend much time delving deep into their principles.

Mostly, I find myself attracted to like minds, reading and sharing similar points of view. Refreshingly, since we live in a small town, we still tend to see and socialize across the divide, democrats and republicans improving the world together as they meet in Rotary or The Arts Council. We do share concerns about our town and are willing to come together to improve things.

 Sometimes though, it takes a long time to define what we mean by IMPROVEMENT.


14 comments:

The Broad said...

I find that my media routine is very similar to yours. However, I envy your interaction with friends and neighbours as you walk into town -- Southport is too large for the kind of intimacy you are able to share. Here most of us do not know our neighbours -- which is quite sad. Thankfully, I am able to walk into town, which I try to do most days if if only for the exercise. For the most part I like to be with people of similar views, but try to keep an open mind and to listen when other points of view are expressed.

Sally Wessely said...

I don't think we are facebook friends. I will have to send you a request. I promise I will behave on facebook. I never (well seldom) put up anything political or religious. I tend to see facebook as a check in to see how my friends are doing. I have many friends on facebook I've never met except through blogs. I feel much closer to them than the woman next door. I wave to her as she picks up her mail. We exchange brief polite conversation. That's it. Now my blogging friends, I know them. I like them too. ;)

Unknown said...

Yes, this is our 'routine', but I am sure most of us really love it. We love living in our little town, love the fact that most of us know each other or at least know of each other. We are really blessed to be here!

yaya said...

Yes, how did we do it..stay abreast of world events without technology? I met one of my neighbors when I was having home health care...the visiting nurse lives 2 doors down! Facebook is still a bit of a mystery to me but I'm getting better. It's funny that you can Google anyone and find out tons of info about them only to find out they live 2 doors down and you didn't know that!

Helen said...

Bend is home to about 80,000 residents ~ Small by large city standards, large if one is accustomed to small town living. One of my town home neighbors is what I call a close friend, theater folks and memory care workers are lovely acquaintences, my family in Bend (the reason I moved here) fill a huge part of my life. Then, there are wonderful blog and FB friends I have grown very fond of ~ like you! I read our local newspaper every morning as I drink two huge cups of coffee, then check out Huff Post and NY Times online. I make it a point turn the TV off after the Today Show which I have enjoyed since the 1950s! I find the older I grow, the less I want to be inundated with negative images and stories .... And I do enjoy a good film now and then. Port Orford sounds delightful and when I stop running all over the globe I will drive down for a look-see!

the walking man said...

1. Dog
2. AP news
3. Local news
4. Write about a thousand words worth of comments on local issues.
41/2. If I feel poetry the blog.
5. One e-mail account
6. FB
7. Not later than 8 am get away from PC for the rest of the day.

Some would say the ugly or the beauty of living here is no one interacts in any constructive way, Detroit is a constant state of denial.

Coffee by the by is 0. The beauty of spending the night awake Rosaria is spending the night awake.

Tom said...

You are very well informed! Me, not so much. I get most of my local news from B who works at the library. I get sports and music info. from my friends. I read the Sunday Times and check in with CNBC and CNN for a few minutes every day. But I find that my most authoritative source is ... B.

Amanda Summer said...

I'm not on Facebook because when it came out it was for teenagers and parents weren't expected to be on it. Now it's for everyone, but I'm glad I stayed away because I feel I would spend way too much time on it. Blogging, even though it's nowhere near as popular as Facebook, is enough social media for me at this point.

troutbirder said...

Well said Rosario. We live in the country near a town of 2,000. Our neighborly social life is much the same as yours though we don't use "social media" except for my Troutbirder blogs where I meet a broader world of common interests.
And yes the NYT keep me up on the big picture....:)

Lisa said...

hello Rosaria, I plan to return to the U.S. San Francisco area in June for business, if you are two hours north, I believe I can do it!

Shadow said...

Damn I love your day. There's nothing better that walking the streets of your town and connecting with real people.

And have a Happy Easter!

Vagabonde said...

That sounds like a nice routine. We live in Greater Atlanta with almost 5,5 million people. Where we live there are no sidewalks, everyone drives. We have been here 38 years but only know 2 neighbors who we hardly see. It would be nice to walk and talk to people sometimes, but it would be dangerous to walk on the roads as drivers go too fast. I don’t go on Facebook and only use my Iphone when we are on a trip. My friends are on my blog, although they are virtual friends and some come and go as they get interested or bored by my posts, so it’s not the same thing. It must be pleasant to live in a smaller town and know people around you. Many people in large cities and suburban areas are very isolated. The husband of my neighbor behind our house, behind the lake, died two years ago and she was sent to an Alzheimer nursing home last year. I just found out by accident when the house was placed on the market last month.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I grew up in Salt Lake City when there was an amazing sense of community, with all faiths, not just Mormons. I played outside with friends. Didn't get TV until I was 12. Never had computer until I was 43. I'm glad I played jacks and jumped rope with friends. I'm glad I now live in a small place, Harrisonburg, Virginia, where I do interact with some of the neighbors. And then there's church friends. I loved reading about your routine; it prompted me to remember the past and think about the Now.

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

What a lovely routine. I read less because my eyes are weak now but I miss the interaction with blogging friends. Facebook is just a family thing for me now. It's to busy there.
Twitter can be useful for information both local and international. But not many wil DM back and forth.
I hate the smell of newsprint so I only get the puzzle section of older papers and do them once in a while. Lately I use the iPD more for games like scrabble or word search or solitaire.
I walk with Buddy ans we never meetany familiar faces in our area. Sadly weare getting less social with locals and friends are fading away as they age.