Category Archives: Social Networking

Whatever You Do, Don't Diss the Social Media! On Roger Cohen's NY Times Op-Ed "Twitter-Bashing Bores"

Posted on January 25, 2014 by williamjcobb

So I sometimes read Roger Cohen, a columnist in the New York Times, who (sometimes) writes reasonably well about Israel and Europe, but his recent piece titled “Twitter-Bashing Bores” (here) illustrates a media obsession I’ve come to notice: Rabid and … Continue reading →

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On "Medicated Barbies" & (a World) Not Safe for Facebook, Plus Tanning Moms and Pirates

Posted on March 8, 2013 by williamjcobb

So I’ve become a (sometimes reluctant, but who isn’t?) user of Facebook—or that infection otherwise known as “social media”—though I’m pretty intermittent, maintaining some self-discipline to only log on when I have the time (yeah, right). I told a friend … Continue reading →

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Big Friend, Boohoo, Big Mess: How the Facebook IPO Symbolizes the False Hype of the Financial World

Posted on June 2, 2012 by williamjcobb

So I’m mildly amused by the debacle that was Facebook’s Wall Street debut, in that I always found the multi-billion dollar value of FB to be an illusion. Now that it’s dropped in value by over $20 billion, my suspicions … Continue reading →

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Big Friend Is Watching You, or Facebook Jumps the Shark. Plus No Fiction Pulitzer for 2012?

Posted on April 17, 2012 by williamjcobb

So I’ve been waiting out the Facebook contagion/timesuck as long as possible, and I still fend off its tentacles every now and then—”Why don’t you have any Friends, Bill? I have 2,893, and I keep in touch with all of … Continue reading →

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Facebook Will Make You Sad, and That's Funny, Kind of

Posted on February 12, 2012 by williamjcobb

So I love this, in the NY Times today: “A study published last month in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking found that the more time people spent on Facebook, the happier they perceived their friends to be and … Continue reading →

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Reading Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows" Offline, amidst a White Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2011 by williamjcobb

So between wrapping zebra puppets and trees with colored lights, I’ve been reading Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows while living offline, which is an interesting contrast. He basically argues that our internet use is changing the way our brains work, and … Continue reading →

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Crossing Paths With the Dougherty Gang in Colorado, On the Lam & Having Fun

Posted on August 11, 2011 by williamjcobb

So at the start of the week I drove from Southern Colorado to St. Louis, and it seems I crossed paths with the Dougherty Gang—Dylan, Lee-Grace, and Ryan, twentysomething desperadoes from Zephyrhills, Fla. I saw a white car fly by, … Continue reading →

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On Tim Flannery's "Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet," and LinkedIn Is Now Officially the Most Annoying Social Networking Site

Posted on July 17, 2011 by williamjcobb

So Tim Flannery, author of one of the best books about global warming, The Weather Makers (2006), has a new book out, which sounds like its subtext is environmental disaster—Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet. While the … Continue reading →

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Aimee Bender reads "The Fake Nazi" & Timothy Egan Sees Through the Facebook Craze

Posted on February 26, 2011 by williamjcobb

So Thursday night I’m in the (not quite final, as I’m still feeling it) throes of a sinus infection, weak and tired and congested, home in my cold Pennsylvania house, shivering and threadbare, listening to the mice scrabble in the … Continue reading →

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Malcolm Gladwell on Facebook & Twitter, or Making the World Safe for Wall Street Brokers and Their Cellphones

Posted on October 15, 2010 by williamjcobb

Since I’ve taken several jabs at the Brave New World of Facebook, I feel obliged to post Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent critique of Facebook & Twitter activism in a recent New Yorker. He’s reasonable, level-headed, and not nearly as shrill as … Continue reading →

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