Recently, I spent a few weeks in Spain visiting my father’s side of the family, where I grew up. Only two of a dozen relatives use a home computer, so I had been looking forward to “escaping” technology work and problems, but I was a little disappointed to bid farewell to my social networks. The only technology I took with me was a digital camera, my iPod for the flight, and a new flip video camera I had just bought.
A few days into the trip I had a conversation with my cousin about using Twitter for work. He understood, but wasn’t entirely sold on it for his business needs. A few days later, my aunt asked me why all these people she didn’t know were trying to friend her on Facebook, and what was that anyway? My uncle had created an account under her name and she didn’t know much else. My other uncle logs in to Facebook every now and then for new pictures of my baby nephew, and besides my sister and I, only has two friends on Facebook (and he couldn’t care less). My 80 year old grandmother asked me what YouTube is because she had seen some strange videos on the news, and I tried to explain – but she really wasn’t interested when she realized it had to do with “computers”.
So, as is often the case, I was feeling rather “technologically superior” to my relatives, particularly around social media and social networking. I rarely talk about work or technology with my family, and I wasn’t interested in venturing into discussing social networking, something I knew they just wouldn’t understand. What I quickly realized, though, was that I am part of the oldest social network in the world: the family.
My 84 year old grandfather has breakfast at the same place almost every day, and we walk there together when I visit. He buys the same newspaper at the same news stand every day, and goes next door to read it with his coffee and a pastry. Every day since I left Spain twenty years ago, my grandfather reads the previous day’s weather for Chicago. I always know that wherever I am, no matter how different our routines, our age and experiences, we are connected at least once a day. Now that’s a “friend”.
Going back to Spain always reminds me that the basic, simple things in life still work, and that technology doesn’t build or strengthen networks, people do. For example, just having lunch and talking to people. My first day back we had sixteen people, from six to eighty-six years old, sitting down to lunch beneath the share of a walnut tree, sharing and laughing for hours. I took pictures with a digital camera and had to show every single one of them on the LCD screen so relatives could tell me exactly which ones to print out for them and mail back – because they want them in their hands, to look at when they visit each other, and not on a computer screen.
I have been back in Chicago for a week, and haven’t really logged in to Twitter. I can tell you that I don’t miss it like I miss my family, my first and strongest network.
