True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. –Socrates
So. I have spent the last two days at a wonderful internet usability conference at our local (and wonderful) community college. All of the presenters at this annual event are passionate about web usability and all of us who attend are too. The biggest problem is that, on Thursday (that’s today, of course), you have to choose between four presentations every hour and, well, how do you choose? I and my co-workers all had a very hard time.
But this is my personal blog space of blather and I know most of y’all do not want me to recount a blow-by-blow of what happened at the conference. So I will limit it to KW’s conference flubs.
I think of myself as a *very* shy person. But not really. It depends. But if I get clanked up about something, I just about have to clamp my mouth shut or sit on my hands, depending on the media in use. It’s the generational stuff that gets to me. Today, in one presentation, there was dissent amongst the audience about whether 24-year-olds (aka, the “Millennial” generation) would be likely to be on Linked In. Those who spoke up said that, yes, they would be on Linked In because they are all looking for jobs. I not-so-humbly (and, er, maybe a bit too er, assertively for my co-workers (or maybe not)) dissented. I am on Linked In. I have, oh, I dunno, maybe five contacts on Linked In. I just don’t quite get it. Is it a “social network”? It seems so stodgy. Do people really get jobs on Linked In? I just didn’t think my children would join something like that. It was an open question for a few minutes… I texted my 24-year-old. Are you on Linked In? She texted me back — no, she was not on Linked In. Actually her response matched the *research* that the *presenters* had done that they showed at the end of that discussion. The Millennial generation is not a huge presence on Linked-In. I am a big fan of collecting data and not just guessing about things and my one tiny data-point matched the presenter’s data.
Not sure why I didn’t pay more attention to Mrs. Velde in Latin class back in the late 60s but somehow that quote by Socrates is how I have been living my life for a long time. In my world it means that no matter how much you know about your field of work or study or interest, somebody else might come along and say or do something, however shy and humble, that will completely change your point of view. In other words, it is never a good idea to get too big for yourself.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:23 pm
i’m not *that* little! 5’6″! 😉
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:24 pm
And you have a great-great-grandfather on the Fin side (Northern Saskatchewan fur trapper) who was 6’5″.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I’m on “Linked-In”, but I rarely ever log into it. When I do, people whom I barely know all seem to be heavy networkers, cuz I get messages that “so-and-so has added 5 new contacts” or “… has scheduled such-and-such seminar” and I’m thinking “ok, fine, he also owns/runs his own business and is a friggin’ Electrical Engineer” (or, *insert another desireable profession*)… and they all live in parts of the country OTHER THAN Michigan. I’m not ready to leave Michigan… would actually like to stay in Michigan, and I’m not really a “social networker” anyway. Just want a job based on my own merit, not on “who I know”. That’s never gotten me very far, anyway (latest job in point).
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:55 am
I joined Linked-In some time ago (couple of years?), but I’ve never even visited it since. It just didn’t jazz me at all. However, I’ve recently joined Facebook (kicking and screaming) because it seems that everybody and their dog belongs. I figured I just didn’t need yet ANOTHER distraction what with blogging and Twittering, but I have to say, it has me hooked. In a good way, I think. I’ve connected with so many of my coworkers from our various offices, other folks in my work field, as well as high school friends and family! I’ve kept my blog/Twitter accounts separate from Facebook because I really don’t want my coworkers to know about either of those. But I’m thinking that Facebook could well be “where it’s at” and that Linked-In is falling by the wayside. I may be wrong, but I sure don’t find it compelling.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:27 am
I have no input on Linked-In, or Facebook for that matter. I was just thinking back to last year’s usability conference, when some twenty-something said that older people just didn’t do blogging, or words to that effect. It seems to me that in the circle of blogs I read regularly, the twenty-somethings are less consistent (more busy?) than the 50-somethings, let alone Margaret and Helen’s octo-blog. Love you all, regardless of how often you post!
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
I’m on it, but don’t even know why. It’s a very stodgy site and one that does me no good at all.