All a-Twitter*
A certain blogger, who will remain nameless, has a link to his/her Twitter page on her/his blog. Okay, I don't really do much of this "online social networking" stuff, but I figured I'd have a look, just to see how it worked.
Feh.
For openers, I hate to seem anti-social, but, I honestly don't care if you just went to the gym/dropped your kids off at school/are headed for Starbucks/whatever. Do we really need to know what our friends and relatives are doing every minute of every day?
For closers, this strikes me as the functional equivalent of submitting to a personal GPS tracking system, and is way too reminiscent of "Big Brother Is Watching You" for my taste. Why on earth would anyone do this voluntarily?
I just don't get it.
*atwitter
Friday, October 17, 2008 update:
Hey, check this out. I started writing this post before one holiday or the other, but didn't get around to publishing it until yesterday. Look what Brian Blum had to say about Twitter, etc., today.
Feh.
For openers, I hate to seem anti-social, but, I honestly don't care if you just went to the gym/dropped your kids off at school/are headed for Starbucks/whatever. Do we really need to know what our friends and relatives are doing every minute of every day?
For closers, this strikes me as the functional equivalent of submitting to a personal GPS tracking system, and is way too reminiscent of "Big Brother Is Watching You" for my taste. Why on earth would anyone do this voluntarily?
I just don't get it.
*atwitter
Friday, October 17, 2008 update:
Hey, check this out. I started writing this post before one holiday or the other, but didn't get around to publishing it until yesterday. Look what Brian Blum had to say about Twitter, etc., today.
posted by Shira Salamone at 6:25 PM
4 Comments:
I am not surprised you don't get it. A lot of people from a certain age onwards just don't. ;-)
For me, it was an excellent way of getting back in touch with people who I hadn't seen in 10+ years and I am now in touch with more than 70 people.
I also found through Facebook someone who sent me an old copy of (what I thought was lost) my passport.
My facebook page has my address so the lady in question who did the above action just sent it to me.
That's my take on it anyways.
I've just started up again on blogger as I forgot all my details , but I'm back now! If you want to know a little bit more about me read Jewish girl in a crisis and it should answer all the questions you have.
I have one for you though:
I have started seriously considering wearing a tallit, but the one I have will do, but not perfect and all the other ones that I see advertised are silk.
Does it matter if it is woolen and traditional looking?
I feel like I am being pressured into wearing a certain kind of tallit, BECAUSE I am a woman.
I'm not at a level where I can wear tefillin yet, but I praise you for doing so.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Well, I certainly pass for "a certain age." :) Aside from that, though, I'm already well occupied writing for my own blog and reading other blogs, and I can't see where I'd find the time to use any of the online social networks. There are only so many hours in the day. (I think that my employer blocks access to social networking sites, which would also limit me, time-wise.)
Concerning a woman wearing a tallit, first of all, I don't like a silk (or polyester) tallit for the purely practical reason that it slides off too easily, and I have enough trouble keeping my tallit from slipping off my shoulders as it is, especially while I'm putting on my tefillin. Both the tallit that I keep at home and the one I leave in my "minyannaires' box" in shul are woolen and traditional (off-white with a navy stripe toward each end).
That said, there are various opinions about the type of tallit that a woman who wears a tallit should wear. Some say that a tallit is *not* beged ish (a male garment), and that, therefore, one needn't concern oneself with how traditional a tallit is in appearance. Others say that it *might* be beged ish. The question is based on how one interprets the Hebrew of the commandment "Speak to the *children*/*sons* of Israel and say to them that they shall make themselves fringes . . . "(Numbers 15:37-41). The original Hebrew, "b'nei," can be translated either way. Those who say that there might be a question might say that it's best to try to wear a tallit that one makes for oneself or a tallit that's clearly designed for a woman. So it depends on how you interpret the commandment. If you would feel more comfortable getting an opinion from your rabbi, *and if your rabbi would be open to such a question,* you might consider asking. Or not. The opinions I've cited above have come from other female tallit wearers and from my own reading. I, myself, started wearing a tallit strictly on my own initiative, because, as a then-member of an egalitarian synagogue, I didn't see how I could have equal rights without equal responsibilities. I continued wearing one after we moved because it simply didn't make sense for me to *stop* wearing a tallit after I'd been wearing one for roughly a decade. (I had no idea, at the time, that once one takes an obligation upon oneself, one is obligated for life, according to halachah/Jewish religious law.) I have never consulted any rabbi. You may or may not wish to go the same route, depending on how you feel about the need to consult a halachic authority and also on whether the halachic authority whom you're likely to consult would consider the question itself "not kosher." Sorry if that's a confusing answer, but the issue itself is not so clear-cut. I wish you all the best in making your decision.
Haha. No problems. I wasn't trying to get you to become a Facebook fan or anything like that, I was just trying to let you understand what the world of Facebook is all about.
It is also a very useful utility tool with regards to letting people know about certain events about to happen. If there's a party in town and you want as many people there, I'm sure you can imagine what the possible outcome might be.
You are an intelligent woman and as such I am going to take what you have said and use it.
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write back, especially so quickly.
Was it my twitter account? I kind of fit the description. Anyways, it's not necessarily for everyone. However, I did, in my recent blog post, link to some of my tweets/twitters, so it has some use to bloggers.
Post a Comment
<< Home