Summertime in the age of Facebook

For Filipinos, the arrival of summer means going on a vacation, usually to the beach. As a kid, I always looked forward to the months of April and May, when we take a break from school and indulge in the biggest thrill of them all--playing nonstop.

When I entered college, I relished attending summer classes because, for some unknown reasons, the most gorgeous girls at school would only attend classes during summer. But, before anything could blossom into something beautiful, summer would soon be over. Summer has this mysterious character that probably comes from its temporary nature--just two months and that's it.

Back in those days when there were no cell phones, digital cameras or the Internet, stories of one's summer escapades had to wait until classes resumed, or at least, when the film of one's analog camera had been "developed" into pictures. That was the summers of yesteryears--fleeting, but uncharacteristically delayed in terms of storytelling.

The advent of digital technology and yes, Facebook, altered all that. Now, it's almost de rigueur for any Filipino family or group of friends to bring a digital camera when out on a trip, and for them to upload their captured images in their Facebook accounts. This practice was not as popular as in previous years, but went on an overdrive this year.

As I write this, friends from my Facebook list are displaying or uploading photos that were taken during the long Lenten break last week. Some haven't even returned back to the city and are already narrating their adventures via status updates.

Those on Twitter and Plurk recount their summer jaunts almost on real-time, sometimes even providing information on their personal lives. While I admit I'm fond of Facebook, I'm not much into microblogging, or at least, I'm resisting it for fear that I'll be addicted to it.

While these new technology tools do give us a new way of sharing our summer experience with friends and kin, one can't help but rue the fact that they are slowly taking over our lives. One reason why I'm distancing myself away from Twitter and Plurk is because they are a distraction and, well, a waste of time, as far as I'm concerned.

There goes another one…

Last week, I wrote about the plan of T3 Philippines magazine to focus on its online presence and publish its print edition just three times a year. The shift to online, it seems, is becoming a trend with another tech magazine going in that route as well.

I've just gotten word that the local edition of PC World, probably the oldest tech glossy magazine in the country, is also transforming into a purely Web publication. The magazine, I heard, will have its last print issue this May.