Linkedin, Facebook, etc.---Worth it?

[James Sacks]

Dear Adam,
I think this depends a lot on age, situation in life and personality 
structure. Mature, well befriended people are not normally looking to 
make more friends. But if someone is still in adolescence, or has 
lost a spouse or is isolated in a new or inherently hostile or vapid 
environment (like prison), then establishing new friendships is 
vital. The scattershot approach of Facebook or other such socializing 
programs may be a good way of winnowing out from a large group those 
whose personalities best mesh with their own. There are people for 
whom making a large number of relationships is important may be 
fulfilling. Like certain therapists, they have a way of infusing 
meaningfulness into almost all human encounters.  Just as There are 
those who have or have had no really close relationships due to an 
unconscious resistance for any form of intimacy and they may try to 
make in quantity what they lack in quality -  popularity seekers. 
Chronic  loneliness may come from insufficient internalization of a 
loving mother whom a toddler comes to feel is always with them, even 
when they she is not. Such  people easily feel abandoned when the are 
alone and endure through life, an exaggerated social hunger and an 
adhesive neediness that scares off the very people they court.
Jim


>Dear colleagues, I'm interested in whether social media yield more 
>than the time investment at a useful ratio. I was invited to join as 
>a friend by a colleague and I responded, "At this point, perhaps 
>because of my ignorance, it seems as if these social media may well 
>consume much more time than they will yield. I am willing to be 
>instructed about this, but unless one has a rather scanning (rather 
>than focused) professional or social life style, it's not clear what 
>contents will emerge."
>
>Under what circumstance is that involvement better than reliance on 
>direct email?
>
>Are some of these related to the idea that some folks may have more 
>psyche-telic rather than socio-telic connections? In that case, I 
>would have to be interested in others based on multiple roles, not 
>just our common professional interests. 
>        I do have some relations like that, but they are family or 
>personal friends with history, nor neighbors with multiple role 
>overlaps. 
>
>    Thoughts?  Warmly, Adam
>
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