Devolution: Blogs, nings and tweets

Once upon a time, I promised my sons I would never visit Myspace or Facebook. It’s a privacy thing—I wouldn’t go messing with their stuff; I wouldn’t barge into their rooms without knocking; I wouldn’t search their files on the computer. And it’s trust—I have three sons, and they care about each other: they let me know if anything’s wrong. But it’s also a generational thing—Myspace and Facebook just looked so strange, I wouldn’t know what to do with them anyway.

Then came Gather. To be more accurate, then came the first ever Gather First Chapters Competition, just as I finished writing my novel, so I joined and entered. I wasn’t sure what all these groups and connections were about—“It’s just like Myspace,” said my sons—but it was a fun place for me to write and make friends.

There was something on the Gather front page about blogs back then. Yes, I’d heard of blogs. I wasn’t quite sure what one was, beyond a public private diary, but I’d heard of them. Still, it really didn’t matter that I couldn’t figure out how to “post” one on Gather; I didn’t want to. And then…

Well, then I wrote another novel, and lots of short stories, and poems, and children’s books, and Bible books… and I really, really wanted to get published. Not being totally averse to the internet, as my skills evolved, I learned to find and read lots of really useful articles. I started following fascinating blogs, and finally realized, if I really want to get anywhere in the writing world, I’d have to have a blog of my own. So I got one: www.sheiladeeth.blogspot.com. I wrote a few articles that nobody read. And I got two followers (is that like two friends on Gather. Ouch! Only two friends! Please visit me!)

I thought the boys would be impressed. Look guys, I’ve got a blog. But they just said “How lame.” I’m so far behind the times. Then I got invited to join some nings. That sounded really modern. “Hey guys. Come and look at this ning.” Nah. That was lame too. And then I met Twitter (www.twitter.com/sheiladeeth).

Twitter’s the next best greatest new thing, so they all say. But not my boys. I feel like I’m devolving before their eyes, getting older and less with-it every day. So I tweet and I blog and I write, and then I saw this comment on someone else’s “discussion” on a ning—“Why don’t you post this to Gather and get paid for people reading it.” I think I’ve come full circle. (Of course, if you buy my books at www.lulu.com/sdeeth I’ll get paid too, but not much.)

There’s a moral to this tale: Don’t try to impress your sons.

And there’s a question: Can anyone tell me what’s the difference between a blog, a ning (private or public), a social network and a tweet? (Yes, I know tweets are limited to 140 characters—even shorter than my beloved drabbles, but apart from that…) Answers please in tweet, comment, drabble, blog or fully fledged article form (with links) would be greatly appreciated.