Image by august allen via FlickrTime for me to make up a new word: Sociatize (soh-shit-IZE): verb, transitive. The act of converting any event into a social networking opportunity.
Let's say you found out members of your book club were going to a movie you didn't want to see. You wouldn't go along with them, sitting and reading your book in the corner with a flashlight, right?
Let's say you found out that members of your knitting circle were going out to eat sushi. You're not a fan of sushi, but you wouldn't show up at the restaurant and knit while others were eating.
Let's say a drinking buddy of yours goes to church every Sunday. You would never show up at his church and offer him a beer.
Commonly accepted rules of human interaction dictate that you not behave in the above manners. You're at the movies. Watch the movie. You're at a restaurant. Eat. You're at church. Don't drink. Sure, you can hang out and chat while you are there (well, not so much at the movies or church, but you get the idea), but you primary function at the event is to participate in the event.
Some social networking enthusiasts forget this.
There are plenty of events for SM people to be very social. To be very chatty. #evfn is an event like this. The primary purpose is to hang out with people and talk. That's it. Oh, and to have a drink or two if you are so inclined. There are legions of events like these. I love to attend them.
But I also like to attend non-social networking events. And if my social networking friends are also in attendance, I'd like them to be participating in the event, too. Watch the event. Listen to the event. Be in the moment of the event. Resist the temptation to sociatize the event. And if the event isn't your cup of tea; don't go. Missing one more chance to interact with your social media circle isn't going to harm anyone. Better yet, it gives you one more thing to ask us about when you see us at the next social event.
I'm off to make up more words. You sit there and wonder if I'm talking about you. Don't make me get the duct tape.
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I'm not sure that I understand what you are talking about here. Are you referring to people who go to an event like a concert and spend more time Twittering than they do watching the concert?
ReplyDeleteMore like this: people who attend a concert with their social media friends, and then spend more time socializing with those friends than listening to the concert.
ReplyDeleteThough if they sit there and Tweet, rather than listening to the concert, that fits, too. BE AT the concert. LISTEN to the concert. :)
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