I heard a radio report about a new Google app called “Google Xistence” that can supposedly live your online life for you, posting random tweets and Facebook status reports, and interacting with other social media sites. At the end of each week it can send you an email to let you know that you did.
It turns out that the Google Xistence is really just a farce, though a funny one. The tagline of its promotional video is “Because life’s too short for social interaction.”
Folks who are so socially interactive that they constantly post updates to Twitter or FaceBook could use something like Google Xistence to take a brief hiatus from the web without losing their rep as power posters. Folks who rarely post could use it to pretend they’re more plugged in than they are. I’m somewhere in the middle, I suppose: I have accounts but rarely visit the sites unless I get an email saying someone has sent a message or wants to be a friend — or unless I’m posting a teaser to a blog I think readers might appreciate.
There’s certainly a place for social media websites, and many people really like keeping in touch with their friends on a really regular basis. I’m both old school and a bit of an introvert: I prefer my social interaction to be intentionally directed rather than broadcast, and in person when possible. I suppose I don’t fully appreciate the allure of social media as a means of constant contact, but it provides for many people a portal for conversation, and I guess that’s good … life’s too short for social isolation.
Professor of Old Testament at Campbell University Divinity School in Buies Creek, North Carolina, and the Contributing Editor and Curriculum Writer at Good Faith Media.
