Comments (0)Jewish Social Networking
Making connections
September 2009By Lauren Silberman
A few years ago, who would ever have suspected that knitting, Gladiator-style fighting and the Catskills would all share something in common?
As the world becomes more connected through social networking, online communities have evolved, taking advantage of the common interests of its members. Locally, Baltimoreans are finding ways to connect with those who share both their common and more esoteric interests.
Rebecca Levitan, 23, has been on social networking sites since 2005. She joined Facebook while an undergraduate at Binghamton University. Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites, boasting over 250 million users. Founded in 2004, more than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college and more than 120 million users log on at least once a day. Levitan admits to being guilty of leaving her Facebook profile up “way more than I should.”
Since then, she began tweeting on Twitter, a service that allows users only 140 characters to answer the perpetual question of “What are you doing?” She also has an active profile on Ravelry, a site devoted to knitting, crocheting and other yarn crafts with over 40,000 registered members. Most recently, she joined LinkedIn, a site dedicated to professional connections with over 43 million members, as she has just finished her master’s in library science through University of Pittsburgh and is searching for her first position in the field. She’s also begun following library postings through Twitter.
A member of Suburban Orthodox Congregation, Levitan also uses social networking sites to make Jewish connections. On Ravelry, she belongs to a group called “Stitch & Kvetch.” At the moment, she’s working on a holiday swap. Everyone in the group is creating something for another member based on the High Holidays.
Currently, she’s making headbands and stitch markers decorated with bumblebees (a symbol of Sukkot). Additionally, she belongs to different Jewish-related pages on Facebook, including the Jewish Museum of Maryland, and keeps updated about her friends from seminary at Baer Miriam in Jerusalem. Someone even began following her on Twitter because she mentioned Shabbat.
However, it’s not only twentysomethings who are availing themselves of social networking sites. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2009), most Internet users in the age range of 18 to 32 use the Internet in general for entertainment and communication, whereas 33- to 44-year-olds use it for e-commerce and information searches.
While adults now make up the largest segment of users of social networking sites (from 8 percent in 2005 to 35 percent in December 2008), it is primarily younger adults (18 to 24) who actively use these sites (75 percent of the social networking adult community).
According to Facebook, their fastest growing demographic is 35 years and older. Mitchell Greenberg, 43, an attorney who lives in Owings Mills, regularly uses Facebook for personal and professional connections.
In the mid-90s, Greenberg even moderated a professional forum for lawyers on America OnLine (AOL) three times a week. He’s continued his interest by creating pages on Facebook devoted to law, including Maryland Association for Justice and Maryland Trial Lawyer’s Association. He counts other lawyers, clients, doctors and insurance adjusters among his online friends.
While there have been claims that online networking is impersonal, Greenberg disagrees. Before Facebook, he would only speak to most of his clients on “two minute phone calls” and neither party would learn much more about each other. Now, he can easily discover more about their personal lives, just as they can explore his interests, such as his involvement in “Gladiator-style” fighting.
However, while Greenberg recommends using these sites as a method of “checking out everyone,” he warns to be careful of what you post. One client, arrested for DUI, included “getting drunk” in her interests. He cautions that anyone can see what you put on there. While several of the sites do limit who can see a person’s profile and information, once the information is put online, it does have the opportunity to be passed around to a wider audience.
Greenberg, a member of Beth El Congregation, also helped plan a reunion for Timber Ridge Camp for attendees who went in the 1970s and 80s. All of the logistics were worked out through Facebook. The camp’s group page currently boasts 439 members and 141 photographs. Over 50 people attended the reunion in West Virginia earlier this summer.
Facebook also has provided a place for virtual reunions for Bram Berlin, 30, who is a member of Oheb Shalom Congregation. He belongs to a group page called “9 Pair Grandkids.”
Years ago, nine couples purchased property on a lake in the Catskills. They brought their kids to vacation there and then, their grandkids. While some of the grandparents are now gone and all of the homes have been sold, the grandchildren of these nine couples still keep in touch with one another, sharing photographs of the boats and docks and memories of the “nice little shacks,” as Berlin calls them. Interestingly, all of the surviving grandparents are on Facebook themselves.
Berlin also keeps track of his friends from high school, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and Camp Airy online as well. He claims that “every single one of my Jewish friends is on Facebook.”
Jewish Social Networking Sites
While Jewish Baltimoreans have found religious and familial connections through largely secular social networking sites, there is an almost endless list of sites dedicated specifically to Jewish interests. Three of these include:
- jewmango.com Jewish social networking site where Jews can connect with Jewish friends, classmates and co-workers, as well as post photos, chat and blog.
- jmix.com Network, blog, read articles of Jewish interest, learn about events and listen to music.
- jmerica.com Features a blog, run by YoYenta.com , which is updated on a regular basis, as well as user-created blog entries, events with photos and a JDirectory for business profiles.