More Stuff Worth Reading

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I know two things (and hopefully more, but two that are pertinent here). We all have limited time, and that time is not always best spent reading what I have to say.  So, in the spirit of encouraging you to have interesting thoughts and interact with a broader assortment of writers, and because I found these articles to be thought provoking in the extreme, may I recommend, strongly and, if necessary, in an incessantly whiny tone of voice, that you read these:

(read them, read them, READ THEM!)


"Generation Why" by Zadie Smith: An insightful commentary on facebook, the internet, and identity. 

Quote:  It feels important to remind ourselves, at this point, that Facebook, our new beloved interface with reality, was designed by a Harvard sophomore with a Harvard sophomore’s preoccupations. What is your relationship status? (Choose one. There can be only one answer. People need to know.) Do you have a “life”? (Prove it. Post pictures.) Do you like the right sort of things? (Make a list. Things to like will include: movies, music, books and television, but not architecture, ideas, or plants.)... Shouldn’t we struggle against Facebook? Everything in it is reduced to the size of its founder. Blue, because it turns out Zuckerberg is red-green color-blind. “Blue is the richest color for me—I can see all of blue.” Poking, because that’s what shy boys do to girls they are scared to talk to. Preoccupied with personal trivia, because Mark Zuckerberg thinks the exchange of personal trivia is what “friendship” is. A Mark Zuckerberg Production indeed! We were going to live online. It was going to be extraordinary. Yet what kind of living is this? Step back from your Facebook Wall for a moment: Doesn’t it, suddenly, look a little ridiculous? Your life in this format?


"Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted" By Malcolm Gladwell: Penetrating examination of what difference social networking is really (or NOT really) making. 

Quote: Social networks are effective at increasing participation—by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires....The Facebook page of the Save Darfur Coalition has 1,282,339 members, who have donated an average of nine cents apiece.

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