Stumble it! 
I had a discussion with a few friends couple of nights ago regarding Facebook and Jaiku. We were carried away with the banter and one rather interesting point that was brought up was about seeking attention. This got me thinking about my usage of these services. Why do I use it in the first place?
I think we all have a need. A need to express ourselves. And part of this need will be satisfied by knowing that some other person (close friend, relative etc) will hear about our expressions or our routines, for instance. The other half, I guess, would be satisfied by purely expressing ourselves, whether it’s our views, emotions, thoughts etc. It’s about sharing as well. For example, knowing that my friends are also using these services ‘inspires’ me to update it regularly. Not to seek their attention, but to continue the indirect, (a) synchronous, non-invasive means of communication. Merely updating your Facebook account could also be a form of communication to, for instance,:
a) Let people know you still exist (a good/bad thing warrants another debate
b) Communicate with you
c) Allow people to remember you in their sub conscious mind
Some people may choose to express themselves in certain ways, some none at all or some in as many ways as possible. It’s unfair to classify someone as “attention seeking” if (s)he decides to use many avenues to extend his/her views/expressions/emotions/thoughts to the world. =)
If I have to choose between attention seeking or self expression speaking of Jaiku (well, even Facebook), I’ll go without a doubt for the first one. Look at the way people use Jaiku. No, even better, look at the way YOU use Jaiku. 17 out of your 20 last Jaikus were strictly and only describing what you were doing (”Emails”, “BBQ”, “Packing”, etc) and only 3 of them did give an opinion about something (”Roma is addictive”). How is that self-expression ? That doesn’t give a hint about what you think (you’ll agree it’s not either feelings, ideas or thoughts).
Additionally, I sense a bit of creativity when using the word self-expression, which we don’t see much on Jaiku. Nevertheless, I admit this can be self-expression; but that’s not the way you and I use it.
I think you find something negative in being “attention seeking” and you are a bit reluctant to be identified as so. But let’s face it, we are seeking for attention: from friends, acquaintances or even people you don’t know (oh yeah we like those ones as the ego is so flattered to see that even someone we don’t know is interested in what we are saying). I’d finally say it’s part of our modern society and you shouldn’t blame yourself too much for being –a little bit- egocentric :o).
Comment by Boris — June 27, 2007 @ 1:28 pm
I agree with the egotistic part. We all are egotists to certain extent. So this should form the general assumption and not the underlying reason.
Would you call someone who uses Flickr frequently as somone who is attention seeking? After all, he/she puts it up there so that people can see his/her pictures right? Does this mean this person is an attention seeker? I call this sharing. A need to share or to express ourselves in several ways. (pictorial using flickr as an example)
Facebook is another avenue for self expression. And so is Jaiku.
The need to be connected with friends (or people you want to befriend), together with the self-expression are I think the underlying reasons why we use these services in the first place.
Comment by sriram — June 27, 2007 @ 7:18 pm