Old Media/New Media - What?

When I studied at USF in San Francisco, Professor Andrew Goodwin was always a challenging facilitator. His style of lecturing is something I have aspired to. His planning and his delivery were always very very professional and well thought out and delivered.

Therefore I have kept in touch with him virtually. I see today his blog on New/Old media. Why this topic is not being discussed and evaluated as he has done HERE in all media circles is beyond me. Perhaps the simple and obvious is just not so simple and obvious.

I feel myself spiraling into a quagmire of dichotomies which I believe life, in general, to be- the simple is the most difficult, nature is simple and complex, language is so clear and multi-layered, looking after our bodies is simple and our bodies are extreme feats of innovative technologies, gardening is heavenly, the land is surreal, nature is beautiful and grotesque and so on... So I'll pull back.

Traditional Media is so well ingrained in our societies that it is going nowhere for now... And probably never will. Marketing will always have to be done to grab the attention of the market. Advertising will always have to be catching and aesthetically pleasing to us humans. Money will be the bottom line when working for the mass media.

Check out Andrew Goodwin's observations as he drank a "simple" cup of coffee (which may have travelled thousands of miles to his cup), in a simple bricks-and-mortar coffee shop in California.

Facebook and Summer in Ireland.

Spring is in the air during the day and winter consumes the bright moonlit nights.

Today I was outside working and the daylight stayed until nearly 7 p.m. I thought of the future nights of summer when the daylight will exist from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. This is a lovely part of living in Ireland - the long days of summer. In San Francisco, the longest days of the year keep daylight until around 8 p.m.

The days are beautiful, dry and sunny. The nights are clear and freezing. Our forecast for tonight is -5 degrees. The moon is bright tonight and it is beautiful outside but yes it is freezing.

The other day I posted a question on Facebook asking for advice on where to erect my clothes line. The problem is that the view from my house is a stunning panoramic of Mweelra. No matter where the clothes line is put, it will be in the view-line. So I decided to put it outside the kitchen and to leave the view clear for the sun-room and the sitting room. I am comfortable with the decision.

On the other hand, I wonder why no one voiced an opinion on facebook. Social media is supposedly connecting us all to share and deliberate and interact virtually. Is it so that a simple question like mine is too trivial for the millions on facebook? For me personally it is indeed the simple, mundane, repetitious issues that are life which can be given new life through social networking.

Some are attempting now to discover new ways of using social media for education, for monetary gain, for networking business, etc. etc. Perhaps the elephant is in the room? Maybe social media is just that - Social Media - nothing more or less? Maybe it is simply an extension of our social networks and as such it should be used for social networking issues.

Issues like - Where should I erect my clothes line? What washing powder do you use? Where is a good spot for grub? Do we over intellectualise some things?

O.k. I know my question is not really interesting to many but I trust that you get my point.