A while ago (or, this morning, as far as the time of the actual writing of this post is concerned) Facebook announced they would be rolling out the Twitter device of hashtags as a new tool for users of the social networking site. You’ll note I didn’t just say “a new tool for everyone,” because yes, I actually know some people who are still not connected to Facebook at all. They are still my “friends.”
(If you aren’t familiar with hashtags, my explanation would be #worsethanuseless)
Anyway, that news, which I received courtesy of MSNBC’s Morning Joe broadcast, had host Joe Scarborough asked by co-host Mika Brzezinski if he “knew what that meant.” He nodded, she shrugged. I had an immediate grumpy old man reaction inside my head, which instantly brought to mind the following exchange from Woody Allen’s great 1992 film Husbands and Wives:
Gabe Change equals death!
Judy What kind of bullshit is that? That’s just a bullshit line! Maybe you fool your twenty-year-old students into thinking that’s some kind of a, an insight or something, but it means nothing! Change is what life is made of! Change – if you don’t change, you don’t grow, you just shrivel up!
Is Gabe right…or is Judy right? How does this observation relate to you… not just to your reaction to the “Facebook hashtag” news, but to the movies…to your life?
Does change equal death? Time for some Socratic dialogue. Our symposium is the comments section.