A week or so back I posted part one of this exposition on parties. That post ended with the claim that contemporary parties are way different than when I was growing up. Today we hold ‘parties’ on-line, usually at Facebook, but I’ve seen Twitter parties, Instagram parties, and more. You name a social media venue, and there’s a party for it. The planning happens faster, usually via text message or email between the party organizers. The invitations are written and sent electronically, usually in a blanket email or message that goes to everyone who might have the slightest interest in the party. No more pretty, hand written cards in the mail. Written invites rarely went out more than a month ahead of time. Send the invite too early, people forget about the event. Send the invite too late and people are already committed to other events. With ever shorter time frames between invitation and event, building anticipation is difficult.
This woman isn’t really me. This image (courtesy of shutterstock) is intended only to illustrate how I might dress for an on-line party.
Real food and party clothes are totally unnecessary. I’m sitting at my computer in my own home, wearing any old thing, munching on whatever happens to be handy, and typing in my exchanges with other party goers. Heck, I might even have written the posts ahead of time and scheduled them so I don’t even have to be present to attend. If I’m a host or a featured guest, I am responsible for dreaming up one or more activities for which I offer a prize won by a person drawn at random from those who participate in the activity by commenting on whatever game or question or hint I may have posted. The winner(s) are usually announced at the party site/URL the following day, and the prizes distributed by arrangement between the winner and the giver. No one touches. No one hands anyone anything. In some ways modern parties are very antiseptic. No more messy bobbling for apples. Parties generally last one to three hours—more than three can become cumbersome, especially when everyone online is so busy. However, in a sense the party is never over, because the transcript is always available at the party URL. There is still work involved for the party planners and a small amount of effort required from the party-goers.
Believe it or not, on-line parties can be fun. The fun isn’t so much in pinning a tail on a donkey or getting that floating apple with your teeth. No, the fun is in the verbal (albeit type-written) exchanges. The anticipation of did I win the prize or will the featured guest actually respond to something I post replaces the anticipation of preparing to attend a physical party. And yes, I’ve been as exhausted by an on-line party as I have by a physical party, but with a lot less clean up. (I’m all for less clean up). The nice part about the on-line style of party is that it doesn’t have to replace the more traditional physical parties.
I can still mail out invitations, spend weeks perfecting menus, activities, decorations, and more. My guests can still spend a few hours in my home having fun with games or just chatting—much like they would do on-line. So now, party planners and party goers have the best of both worlds. They can literally have their cake and eat it too.
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