I keep receiving requests from people to connect with them via Linked In or Schooldays or whatever it is. I have no idea why I should or what the value of doing so might be... to them or to me. If I might have been a classmate, okay, I'll connect via Schooldays even if I don't have the foggiest idea of who you might be. But if I get a Linked-in request from someone I don't know, I just ignore it. Either way, I must say, I don't see the point of these versions of social media.
But maybe I'm wrong. Long-time readers of EclectEcon may remember that Scoop tried to encourage me to join Facebook, and I wouldn't do it until he created a Facebook group encouraging me to join and managed to find 50 people to join that group. After several months he, Rondi, and Erin, succeeded and I joined.
At the time I wrote,
Now that I have joined Facebook, I have a sense of alone-ness. Nobody from my high school or undergraduate graduating classes is a member of Facebook. Nobody from my present hometown is a member of Facebook. That says a lot about both my age and about the demographic market for Facebook.
That was over five years ago. Since then things have changed considerably. Many, many more people are FB members. I have become increasingly active on Facebook. I have many friends there from all over creation based on my having taught and lived in so many places and having been involved in many different aspects of the arts, economics, and blogging. Through Facebook I keep in touch with former students with whom I'd almost surely have lost touch without FB. And I've renewed friendships with grade school and high school friends, as well as a couple of relatives. I love it.
My granddaughter and I had a contest last summer to see who was more addicted to Facebook. She won, but barely. Also, it is clear that posting links and comments on Facebook has replaced some of my blogging.
So maybe there is something to these other groups like Linked-in and SkoolDaze. But if so, what is it??
And does anyone really use Google+?