Adam: What is your name and what do you do (Professionally)?
Cree Potorff. I run a Personal Assistant business, Creber Associates.
Adam: How many hours a day do you spend online?One or two hours a day online, including my phone, mostly on email.
Adam: How do you use the internet differently between work and personal?I really don't use the internet for personal use any more. Sometimes checking movie times or weather. For business it is often looking up answers to questions for clients.
Adam: Does your online life ever disrupt your real life?It used to disrupt my real life.
Adam: You have recently deactivated your Facebook page. Why?I deactivated my Facebook page for a number of reasons. The primary of the reasons is that it used up a lot of time that is by far better spent doing other things.
Especially after starting my business, I realized how little control I had of how I was presented on Facebook. I felt I had to constantly monitor my Facebook for how it represented me and my company. That is why I felt I couldn't have an account and just not check it.
Even such relatively benign things such as pictures of me at a wedding with a drink in my hand or an off-color joke posted on my wall from a friend could misrepresent me.
And in all cases, I am a firm believer that a good indication of a person is by the friends they keep. At one point, I had at least 3 Facebook friends who were/are felons. Do I piss off a felon by denying their friend request? Why do I even want to put myself in the position of having to make that choice?
A lot of the time I got in trouble just by my full willingness to say to someone, "Are you really that stupid?!?!?!" I had one Facebook friend who is a teacher and single parent whose posts for a school week included getting drunk 4 times, going to a porn shop and strip club while her son was at an uncle's whose house blew up from a meth lab, and staying the night with two different guys, one of whom was married. Let the stupidity of those actions speak for themselves, but posting it on Facebook too is just too much! Then the reliance/expectations for any single political figure to fix all that is wrong in the world often just leads me into just plain despair.
And as I get older, I realize who really is worth my time and effort. It's very tough to explain or justify to anyone that they aren't worth your time, and extremely socially awkward to say yes, you are worth my time. It's not an insult that you aren't worth my time, and I shouldn't have to declare it to everyone either. The flip side of that is that there is something real and respectful of someone visiting you in person, they could have chosen millions of other people online and probably thousands in person to spend that time with, but they chose you.
Although not a big point in my dropping Facebook, also as I get older I tire of the presentation aspect of any online identity. It isn't exactly fake, but more like putting makeup on. I realize I am in the small minority in this, but I'd rather see people with no makeup. I want a wife who looks just as good right when she wakes up as she does 5 minutes before we are presented to the public. I want friends who don't care if I see them at their worst because they trust in my friendship that much. Completely idealistic... and possible.
Especially after starting my business, I realized how little control I had of how I was presented on Facebook. I felt I had to constantly monitor my Facebook for how it represented me and my company. That is why I felt I couldn't have an account and just not check it.
Even such relatively benign things such as pictures of me at a wedding with a drink in my hand or an off-color joke posted on my wall from a friend could misrepresent me.
And in all cases, I am a firm believer that a good indication of a person is by the friends they keep. At one point, I had at least 3 Facebook friends who were/are felons. Do I piss off a felon by denying their friend request? Why do I even want to put myself in the position of having to make that choice?
A lot of the time I got in trouble just by my full willingness to say to someone, "Are you really that stupid?!?!?!" I had one Facebook friend who is a teacher and single parent whose posts for a school week included getting drunk 4 times, going to a porn shop and strip club while her son was at an uncle's whose house blew up from a meth lab, and staying the night with two different guys, one of whom was married. Let the stupidity of those actions speak for themselves, but posting it on Facebook too is just too much! Then the reliance/expectations for any single political figure to fix all that is wrong in the world often just leads me into just plain despair.
And as I get older, I realize who really is worth my time and effort. It's very tough to explain or justify to anyone that they aren't worth your time, and extremely socially awkward to say yes, you are worth my time. It's not an insult that you aren't worth my time, and I shouldn't have to declare it to everyone either. The flip side of that is that there is something real and respectful of someone visiting you in person, they could have chosen millions of other people online and probably thousands in person to spend that time with, but they chose you.
Although not a big point in my dropping Facebook, also as I get older I tire of the presentation aspect of any online identity. It isn't exactly fake, but more like putting makeup on. I realize I am in the small minority in this, but I'd rather see people with no makeup. I want a wife who looks just as good right when she wakes up as she does 5 minutes before we are presented to the public. I want friends who don't care if I see them at their worst because they trust in my friendship that much. Completely idealistic... and possible.
Adam: Do you think that social media should have a rating system or separate forums for young children/older people? I don't think kids should use the internet any more than I think they should watch the news. It's really about being able to process things on a personal level first. It's deplorable and psychologically taxing for a kid to learn about sex and drugs and crime before their first kiss, sip of an uncle's beer, and shoplifted candy bar. Let them figure out themselves before having to face the whole world.
Adam: Is there anything wrong with using internet or other social media at work? No. If it's being used to waste time, there are always a whole bunch of different ways we will find to waste time. It's just a tool like any other that can be used for whatever the user's intent.
Adam: Which do you agree with more and why? 1. The internet has shrunk the world and made it easier to maintain contact with people far away? 2. The internet has depersonalized interaction with people.Both. It's good that the world is becoming a globalized community, and I think that shows in recent uprisings against despots worldwide. Germans aren't ruled by a dictator, why should Egyptians be?? But really, the internet hasn't depersonalized interactions, people have depersonalized interactions. For my lifetime, I think there has been a large push of trying to make things easy in every aspect available and distant means easy and safe.
Adam: What is the weirdest/worst thing that you that has happened to you because of your internet use?I once had my MySpace hacked where it put a comment on my girlfriend's mom's wall that said, "OMG, check out what this crazy slut is doing now!" with a link and a blurry picture of someone who resembled my girlfriend on a webcam evidently naked. It did the same for half my friends, but the mom's wall was by far the most awkward!
Adam: What is the best thing that you’ve ever gotten from your internet use?
Information. In some cases, it cuts research time from days to minutes. Yesterday I found out what a 1912 Story and Clark upright piano weighed in 4 minutes. I literally can't imagine what I would have to go through to find that out ten years ago.
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