&gt;There&#x27;s a pretty big difference between communicating in and about the present vs. communicating about the past. I think what you&#x27;ve identified is the beginning of a distinction between those two activities in the technologies we use.<p>That&#x27;s a great observation. I had not explored that line of reasoning. That gives me something to chew on. Right off though, I&#x27;d say that... I suspect we used to value communicating about the past more because it was so difficult to do so, but as facebook makes it easier, the value has gone down.<p>How&#x27;s this sound: before long epics were written down, the oral tradition of reciting them kept them alive, and thus the entire process was valued. Once they were written, it got easier to &#x27;remember&#x27; the epics. S, writing was not as valuable as orally remembering&#x2F;reciting because it was easier&#x2F;more common&#x2F;not as important? This is not the best comparison, but sounds right to me at the moment.