My problem with "social networking"

I don't use Facebook, don't Tweet, don't participate in any of the wildly popular social networks. I have nothing against daily contact with friends and family. My opposition hinges on the requirement of brevity.

Radio and television, love them though I do, introduced the era of brevity. Of quick little sound bites. In broadcasting, we always talked about "time constraints" as the cause for brevity. These constraints existed because we knew we had to get off the serious side of informing people with real news and get back to entertainment programming, or we would lose our listeners.

Now, in the era of broadband, high speed Internet connections, our society has become an impatient society. If it takes too long to download, forget it! If you cannot tell a story in one brief sentence, you will lose your listener. The new social networks serve to reinforce this practice. I wish to eliminate it.

We no longer want to take time to read a lengthy analysis of a current news topic. The result, in my opinion, is a population uninformed, easily misled, easily fooled.

For example, today's news is anchored with President Obama lecturing Wall Street, and his plan to "reform" their practices. Sounds okay, until you start thinking. The president is scolding - punishing, if you will - people who invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to support his election. What's going on?

In the suspicious mind of this old man, something is wrong. But you are not likely to learn more from sound bites. This is a big, involved subject for the average guy. Needed is a patient, detailed explanation. I found one in John Mauldin's "Outside The Box" column today. It is long, requires time and concentration to read and understand, but if you want a peek behind the curtain, please check it at www.johnmauldin.com/outside_the_box.html

Mauldin points out that, tucked away in the 1300 page financial reform bill, are requirements that will seriously impact investing by (comparatively small) "angel" investors, while heaping crippling obligations onto innovators seeking investments in their new business venture.

Could it be that this new "reform" legislation, meekly accepted by the people it is supposed to be punishing, is actually a tool that will force billions in new business their way?

Sorry, that question cannot be answered with a sound bite. But if you are willing to spend fifteen minutes or more, Mauldin may well answer it for you.