Two weeks ago I deleted my Facebook and MySpace accounts. I hadn't used my MySpace account in years but I did try to check my Facebook account every other week. While it was a vehicle for me to connect with some long-lost friends, it became a stressor as I tried, like so many people, to decide whether or not to accept Friend requests from people I didn't know or didn't know if I knew, felt pressure to respond to all kinds of things, and so on. And I started to feel slightly ill at having all these relationships that were mediated by technology. Relationships is probably too strong a word--connections is a better word.
I also started a Twitter account a while ago. I teach a class called Mass Media & Democracy and I thought I should at least try it to see what it was like. Since I am teaching four courses at three institutions this semester, I found I was just too busy to deal with all these things.
I would like to spend the time I was on Facebook, which wasn't all that much, but thinking about it did occupy some gray matter at times, reading poetry and other more nutritious reading material.
I am currently looking for poetry suggestions...
