"So what are you doing this Friday?" my father asked, trying to elicit information I could tell he already knew.
"Hmmm. Oh, I'm playing a gig." I responded, calmly.
"I know."
Ha! I knew he knew.
He continued, "Why didn't you invite me?" (He was referring to me not sending him a Facebook invitation for my gig, which I did send to more than 120 others.)
"Because you are not in New York, so it seemed illogical." (He's in Birmingham, Alabama.)
"Well don't worry. I don't go to things I'm not invited to."
This tiff divulged into a two-day feud between my father, the rest of my family, and me. I didn't talk to him for a couple of days. He didn't call me. No punches were thrown, but it all made me very angry. To think, Facebook—
Facebook!—caused a serious argument between my father and me: something that has actually never happened before. We're usually pretty chill.
I have always looked at social networks like Facebook and MySpace in a favorable light, seeing them as the great unifier rather than the great divider. I think my father's case is an exception, mostly because he is not used to the social rules of Facebook. For example, he "poked" me the other day. Now Dad, that's just weird, but it's cool. You don't really know what you're doing.
It's safe to say that these social networking sites are really made for and by Late Gen Y'ers and Gen Zs, the children of the digital age.
Being a part of this digital generation and in the hi-fi industry, I received a magical email that read:
Thiel Loudspeakers is on Facebook. I let off a loud scoff and yelped to Stephen, "Check this out," and forwarded him the email.
I first mocked
the site, as any child of the digital age should (a company trying to enter my social space? How dare they?), but after I saw the site, it made me happy. They actually had fans! (More fans than
my Facebook music page …hold back the jealousy, hold it back…) It made me excited and joyful and hopeful. There are other young people out there, also into hi-fi, and into Thiel speakers. That's pretty darn cool.
Stephen and I often talk about how to best get young kids into hi-fi, and I think Thiel is on the right track. While nobody would really find the page unless they were looking for it, the site creates a resource of information, and a place of discourse about the product. Thiel customer service manager Gary Dayton makes regular blog posts, members post pictures of their Thiel speakers, and users interact through their love of the product. Some "fans" are young, some older, but all seem to share a passion for music and hi-fi, something that transcends age.
