De File

I was talking about social networking protocols recently when my daughter, overhearing the conversation, interrupted with a question:

Skylar: Are you talking about Twitter?

Me: Yes.

[A few minutes later]

Me: How did you know I was talking about Twitter?

Skylar: It often happens that when you're talking about something boring, you're talking about Twitter.

I'm trying hard not to reach the same conclusion. But I do find that type of networking less appealing than the sort that involves more expansive musings, as I noted here recently. The same goes for Facebook, though it seems to be shifting towards a more text-friendly format.

What interests me more than the majority of what I see on either Twitter or Facebook, though, is my daughter's ten-year-old perception of that sort of communication. She is simultaneously attuned to its presence in her environment, as her comments quoted above suggest, and inclined to regard it as something of littler interest to her personally. I wonder if that will change when she's a little older. Or will she go in a sharply different direction in her interactions with the media old and new? And if she does, will that simply reflect her already idiosyncratic tastes or be a signal of a generational shift as well?

In the face of so much stress and strain, we must seek something, however arbitrary, to fortify our aspirations. I need something, to be more precise. And that's why I'm going to suspend disbelief for a while and let myself be puffed full of spirit by Cal's thrilling victory today over the Washington Huskies. When your only leads come at 1-0 and with only seconds left in the third overtime, it's not unreasonable to perceive a change of fate for your team or its loyal followers. I may not be happy much these days, but this temporary delight is strong enough to make me forget that for a spell.