To be or not to network...

While attempting to decide exactly what to write about under the vast subject of Social Media, I became distracted.  I did as most people do, and I turned on my television.  Luckily for me, my television slapped me back into reality because within moments I watched this scene from the 2008 movie Yes Man:

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Do we really exist outside of our networking? What is a presence if it is not online?


Thinking back on my college experience, all forms of socialization happened through Facebook.  While Facebook chatting with friends who were sometimes a mere dorm room away, the popular social networking site basically became my social calendar.  It was over Facebook that I would get invited to parties. It was over Facebook that I would hear about club general interest meetings, on-campus events, or even social protests.

Which begs the question: How did people find out about these things before the internet?

To answer this question, I turned to the coolest college student of 1981…my mother.

Naturally, I asked her this question over iChat.

“hmm, I have to remember back that far, lol.  Parties, word of mouth, definitely.  Other things, I think flyers.  Maybe school newspaper”

Parties may still have word of mouth promotion.  There may still be some flyers put up in central locations on campus.  However, given that many upperclassmen at my college campus often do not frequent dorms or the University Center, it is unlikely that a flyer would have nearly as lasting of an impact as an event on Facebook.

So where do college students who abstain from social networking stand?  Where does anyone stand?

In this web 2.0 world, there is a place for everyone and everything. So why isn’t everyone and everything online?  Why isn’t everyone networking?

Over the summer, I “liked” Pier One Imports because they had a $10 coupon available for everyone who “liked” them that day.  Pier One was a place I seldom thought about or considered shopping until then.  However, since then, I think about them everyday.  How could I not?  They’re on my news feed.  Without Facebook, they would just be another company that would never cross my mind.

Today, people are turning to Facebook and Twitter not only for enhancement of friendship, but also for consumer-related decisions.  Without social networking, a person or company won’t even be an option in the Web 2.0 world

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After all, as Zooey Deschanel’s character in the clip above alludes, without social networking one's mere existence is questionable to the point of negligible.