A journey begins with a small step

Yuki-chan with her laptop

Well, here I am, blogging…

For those who knew me in the past, finding me blogging could be a huge surprise. “How big?”,  some of you might ask. Drastic changes like this could easily be comparable to the day when humans finally found out the earth is round, not flat; or perhaps also comparable to the day a man landed on the moon. Okay, that is exaggerating but I think it’s drastic enough a change to make it into page 18 of the local newspaper! Still, in a lot of ways, and in a lot of senses, things definitely has changed. Again, “how so?”, you might ask. Here’s a little of my history:

History: 1998 – 2008

I have became quite proficient with computers and learned to like it at a very young age (more on this some other time). Ironically, I don’t feel the same love for all the social media/network applications that is made possible by the advancement of computing technologies. For those who knew me in the past, I am sort of an anti-trend person in a few areas. Primarily, I used to hate social networking applications. During my junior highschool days, ICQ was the “in” thing. Almost everyone had an ICQ number, even those who deosn’t have a computer at home! And Me? Nope. I’ve tried it on my friend’s account, and never liked the idea. Not that I am not sociable, but to me, it just doesn’t feel right.

Then during my highschool days, cellphone, MSN Messenger, and Friendster was the “in” thing. Okay, so I have a cellphone, out of necessity. At that time, I used to stay at school after classes, for various activities, and also to hang out with my friends. I needed the phone simply because public phones are few and far in between, and I had to ask someone to pick me up sometimes. As for MSN Messanger and Friendster, I found it to be a total waste of good time that I’d rather spend on something else. Only years after graduating from high school that I’ve gotten myself an MSN account, for a funny reason: at one point I found that I was spending close to a hundred bucks a month calling up friends. My cellphone bill was burning a hole in my wallet, and since MSN is free to use, I thought “bah, what the hell…”, and I’ve been using it since then. Friendster until today still has no luck, and with Facebook eating into its territory and surpassed it, I can only wonder why it became a trend.

Today: 2009

And today, it seems Facebook, Blogging, and MSN Live! became the “in” thing. Nearly everyone that I know has a Facebook account and MSN Live account, with most also having a blog, although most of them update their blogs only once in a month or less frequently. Hell, even my mom is on Facebook and MSN way before this.

So, Why have I decided to join the social media trend?

Okay, another mini story. It is ironic that I’ve hated business simply because my own father is a businessman. When he was building his business career, I was only a young child. He was rarely at home because his tight business schedule and career development took priority over time at home, and also to make ends meet. I never understood that, and figured that business took my father away from this family. But then when things slowly built upon itself and the business machine started to become more automated as it grows larger, my dad spent more time at home, teaching me of his experiences and knowledge. Only in recent years that I have slowly lifted my negative views on business and actually found it an essential skill for life-long development, both personally and professionally.

Staying connected to the people you know is important for that life-long development. What I have discovered is that social media applications such as blogs and Facebook helps us more effectively keep connected to all the people you know and care. Not only that, it also opens up doors to get you connected to more new people sharing the same interest as you do, so you will develop furthur and reveal new possibilities in life.

Hey besides, this seems to be a lot of fun, and might just become my next hobby! =)

Just a small survey: Do you have Facebook/Friendster, a blog, and/or Instant Messaging (MSN Live, AIM, Yahoo Messenger… etc)? If so, how long have you been using them?

For me, I’ve just started blogging and Facebook today (Mar 14, 2009), and I’ve been using MSN Messenger/Live since 2004

You can add me on Facebook and MSN with this ID: az_kazuki@yahoo.co.jp