Even as a Bay Area resident with Silicon Valley just down the road,
social media bewildered me and FaceBook simply made me nervous…what’s social about putting
cyberspace between people. But in 2009, I reluctantly jumped onto this social
media bang wagon to see what the fuss was about.
And to my surprise, with a single click of a button all my
contacts were plugged-in and folks from all phases of my life began to “friend
me”. It was daunting…almost instantly those who I hadn’t spoken to in decades
began to tag, ping, and poke me online. It was indeed good to reconnect but I
quickly discovered we had nothing to talk about after we said: "oh my god,
how long has it been, where do you live, any kids, what kind of work do you
do" and then the inevitable, "well, let's keep in touch."
What was there to keep in touch about? Then it dawned on me that
as long as I could remember, I loved posing random questions to my friends,
teachers, and nearly anyone in ear shot. I reveled in hearing how people would
respond and how conversations, debates, or dialogues would ensue. So
immediately I re-engaged this practice online and posed a weekly question on
the site so I could indeed stay in contact but in a much less forced or awkward
way.
Soon I thought, why not my on my own blog? And I launched www.qandhey.com: “Q” for questions and “Hey” for chatting
and comments. Q&Hey questions range from self-focused queries like: “What songs just kill you softly?” or “What is your birth order and did you get
over, were you overlooked, or just overdramatic?” Some touched on current
events: “When faced with Limited
Resources how have you shown Unlimited Resourcefulness?” and others asked
about hot topics: “Should there be a
required license to be a Parent?” or “Cigarettes
are legal and Pot is not…what are your thoughts?” Now through Q&Hey,
I’ve stayed in touch and learned more about my friends, made new friends, and
have even become conversant with complete strangers!
So, I’ve reworked the old maxim: A Question is Worth a Thousand
Answers! Yes, truly a medium for socialization.
