Friday, August 3, 2007

Visceral Virtuality

Blogging is a funny thing. Like a jumble of thoughts welling up during the week and then...splat. Here you go - into the blogosphere once more...

I was exploring some of my favorite places with a new friend from the UK in SL last night - which began with a twitter from him, some of our antics were tweeted while in world and observed by a twitter-in-law(?). While exploring we were discussing the social sixth sense that twitter creates and I was saying it is like Social Osmosis - and now come to think of it, Visceral Virtuality!

Over the last week or so, I heard about the floods in the UK, the devastating fires in the Canary Islands and a few happenings in the virtual world and private lives of connections in Twitterland. I hardly get to watch the news or even read it these days and it fascinates me that a tool like twitter is keeping me in touch with the news through the eyes of my connections.

What really intrigues me with the visceral (and vicarious) qualities of twittering and exploring with friends in SL is the seemingly natural level of friendship and openness usually experienced only after more lengthy social interactions. I think one cyber month becomes the equivalent of one earth year! Twittering in particular gives me an insight into my colleagues and friends and quite a few laughs along the way. I wonder how many Munchausen Twitterers exist? There are certainly many sociologists sighted in secondlife - the interactions just too interesting not to document!

I like Roo Reynolds post on Social Networking for whales and wonder just how effective my life of Visceral Virtuality will become? It has been great to catch up with old friends on Facebook and glimpse into their lives right now. But is this social networking getting too close to home? How much do I choose to reciprocate? Should some doors remain best closed? Where do the lines blur? And if my twitter goes past the current small crowd to the 150 number mentioned in Roo's post - will my head start to spin? Time will tell, as they say. I just wonder if I should measure it in cyber years or earth years?

2 comments:

labsji said...

Hey your idea of 'Twiter-in-law' and Cyber Month equals Real Year are very interesting. And Insightful.

Thanks Andy Piper for the link.

Cheers.
-Balaji S. Chennai India.
Labsji Link in SL doing Tree Teleportation from SL to RL.

Jasmin Tragas said...

heh heh thanks Labsji! And would love to know more about your tree teleportation!!!