When Was the Party?

One situation that comes to mind when thinking about online communication was one that happened fairly recently. It was back before the 2009 graduation at Oregon State back in June. A friend of mine was graduating from one of the Masters programs and wanted to have a celebratory party the night before. He sent the invitation out several weeks ahead of time, but kept changing the time the party was supposed to happen. The last couple days of class had been so hectic for me, I had not been able to confirm with him when or where the party was happening.
With lots on my mind, it was hard to remember to check Facebook for updates on how the party planning was coming along. As the week was coming to an end, it was looking more and more like I was going to be able to make an appearance. It was the day of the party, which also happened to be my last day of finals at the end of the school year. I had a final at 7:30 that morning and was very tired afterward, still needing to pack my things and be out of my dorm room by 5 pm that evening. Once I had gotten packed, I checked Facebook one last time, and found out unfortunately that the party wasn’t until 8 o’clock. I had told him that I would be at the party, but had not intended that I would be so worn out from my last final, then having to get moved out.
If this were a situation that was taking place either in person or over the phone I would have been able to confirm the time of the party with better accuracy and may have been able to plan accordingly so I wouldn’t have missed it. Sometimes with technology being as it is, there is not always time to respond to someone in a timely manner like you may have wanted. It also would have run smoother if more than one person were in charge of planning the party.
Although Facebook is a widely used application and it is great for following friends and family, one of the best ways to update people about a party is by calling them on the telephone or talking with them face to face. Ther can be many challenges in trying to plan a party such as this one due to a lag in the time the message is sent out and when the person receives it. Even if it always convenient to call someone, I feel you are momre likely to get a timely response than you would be by posting something on Facebook or sending them an email. These are used so little or not at all by some people, I don’t see them as a very viable option in times when you need to get a message quickly and efficiently to a large amount of people. Networks like these hae their place, but only if everyone invited checks them on a regular basis.