[Air-L] facebook, twitter and annoyances

[danah boyd]

When it comes to food status updates, I also think that the value goes  
beyond the food itself.  Food is part of ritualized culture and  
sharing is common with food itself.  All around the world, people sit  
down for a meal with people in their lives.  There is no food in  
online interactions.  There is no alcohol either.  All we have are  
performances of food (and alcohol).  It's not the same, but there's  
still some endearing about it, a feeling of peripheral awareness, a  
feeling of togetherness when apart, a feeling of commonality and  
patterns and daily flows.  My mother used to post about what she ate  
and I loved it; it let me feel her presence in a way that's not  
possible from far away. I loved seeing the habits of her life, not  
because they are important to strangers, but because they are  
important to me.

I'm sure there are folks on this list who are more versed in food  
culture than I am, but I just want to say that I appreciate those in  
my intimate sphere talking about their food.  There's something  
comforting about the simplicity of it.

danah


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"taken out of context, i must seem so strange" -- ani
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/
http://www.danah.org/
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