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Social Media
Social Media
I have made a pact with myself that I am never going to use social media besides calling, texting, and email, unless I am unable to properly function in society without it. When asked how on Earth I could possibly do that, I smile and say, "I made a pact." Then I think about my reasons.
My reasons:
1) I think that is is pointless because it exists for the purpose of communication, which is already easy to do in person or by text/email. Also, I have asked may people why they have SnapChat or Instagram, and they have said that it's because their friends use it. Because their friends probably use social media for the same reason, it is pointless. If you eliminated social media from the equation, no one would notice. (In a universe that operates like Math). It is silly.
2) I think that it is isolating. When I am in a roomful of people all using social media, I feel very, very lonely. The main focus of the conversation is their phones, and the main focus of their brain is their phones. Also, people who are just not allowed or unable to get social media can't choose whether to follow the crowd or not. It creates more problems than it solves.
3) It is very easy to gain low self esteem. People tend to only post the happy things in life and pictures of themselves smiling or having a good time. This creates the illusion that everyone is happy all the time. Everyone, however, is never happy all the time, but because of social media it is easy for people to think that they are the only unhappy ones. The sad thing is that while they are feeling that way, they are proabably putting other people in the same suituation byh following social media trends! These trends would not exist if social media did not exist.
Please forgive my lack of logical structure of formal language, but it is summer and I am not writing an essay right now!
What are your opinions?
submitted by Over the Rainbow
(August 15, 2016 - 4:57 pm)
(August 15, 2016 - 4:57 pm)
I agree with that. I don't have a phone at the moment, and it annoys me when I'm trying to talk to someone and they're checking Snapchat. Seriously? Pay some attention to the actual people in the room. Several of my friends use Instagram for posting photography, not socializing, which I think is a pretty effective way to share their photos.
(August 15, 2016 - 8:23 pm)
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(August 15, 2016 - 9:16 pm)
Wait, isn't this kinda social media?
That being said- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T LEAVE. I think I might curl up in the fetal position and stop functioning altogether. We already lost Katydid and Leafpool and others.......
(August 15, 2016 - 10:19 pm)
Oh, don't worry, I'm not leaving! I don't count this as social media.
I think that it's downright rude when people are checking Instagram while you're in the room, but I think it's perfectly fine to use a wonderful online web forum WHEN YOU ARE ALONE AND THERE IS NOBODY YOU COULD BE IGNORING.
(August 16, 2016 - 6:51 am)
Leafpool hasn't been added to the list of casualties yet.
I don't like social media because it's unnecessary. Why should other people need to know about our lives and vice versa? Don't we have enough to worry about in our own? Why do need to know what someone else ate for dinner last night? It's not our life. It shouldn't matter to us.
This doesn't qualify as social media because we don't share our lives excessively. We share writing and stories, yes, but not really social media-type stuff.
(August 16, 2016 - 7:59 am)
Hey, Bibliophile, I didn't know you were still here. I haven't seen your posts lately.
(August 16, 2016 - 7:03 am)
I'm still here, I was on vacation!
(August 18, 2016 - 5:55 pm)
Good observations, OtR. I totally get where you're coming from. I have a "dumb" phone myself, initially not by choice but have learned to really appreciate it to the point where I wouldn't have it any other way. There is something, I think, to be said for living life up close and without the filters.
I do love seeing the occasional pictures of places where I have been, but I find taking too many can get in the way of creating my own memories, and I find that my memories are that much more richer for it. I see people walking around with their head down looking at their phones all the time, and I seriously still wonder how they manage to get from point A to point B without constantly bumping into things. For the most part, people do though. They have adapted. But I also think about all the things they are missing...
This is not to say that I don't see the value of some of these technologies, but I think they are double-edged swords.
(August 16, 2016 - 8:08 am)
I agree. tons of people, epecially kids are obsessed with social media and I really don't understand what's so great about it. I just got a phone so I text my friends waaaaayyyyy to much but I don't use a million different social media apps because there's really no point. I got a musicly because my friends showed it to me and it looked cool, but that's not really for communication it's just fun. I have no interest in Instagram or Snapchat but my friends will probably make me get it. I don't want it though so hopefully they don't make accounts for me.
(August 16, 2016 - 10:59 am)
Sorry. I guess I'm a controversial person. Wish I wasn't. But I like social media. The way I like pop. And the way I like realistic fiction more than fantasy fiction. I don't think I fit in the CB, yet I love it. I don't think it is isolating; yes, it's rude when you try to talk to someone and they are on Twitter or Facebook, ect; but I can keep in contact with people a lot quicker and more convienently with social media. That being said, I believe too much is bad. The problem with social media is that it is very addictive. But I still love it!
(August 16, 2016 - 1:36 pm)
Aw, Daisy, I think you fit in just fine. Just because you like pop or realistic fiction (I know I enjoy both and other genres of things) doesn't make you any different from other CBers ;)
I think that social media is okay- the idea that you can share your interests and personality with others and stay in touch is a good idea. People have just ruined it over time with hateful comments, shaming, meanness... so I prefer to stay away from it. That's why the CB is the best! We have the perks of social media without all the drama.
(August 16, 2016 - 3:00 pm)
Thank you so much, Bluebird! :)
(August 16, 2016 - 5:05 pm)
I understand. I guess that my experiences with social media have all been negative.
(August 16, 2016 - 4:15 pm)
I agree, in part, with everything that has been said on here. I don't see Cricket as social media, because most of Cricket is not talking about ourselves. Now, we often talk about things we are doing on DtE, or share experiences, or whatever, be Cricket is NOT all about us. It's about expressing our creativity and interacting with other creative people in a safe, online environment. Social Media, on the other hand, is almost all about YOU. Pictures of you, talking about stuff you've done or things you're going to do ALL THE TIME. Now, not all social media is bad. My family uses Facebook and Instagram to publicize our stand at farmer's markets, and to put up adds for tomatoes. But some of the people who are on their phones ALL THE TIME checking their Facebook or Snapchat, or whatever, is extremely annoying. It's rude, and inconsiderate to the people around them. I don't have a phone. I have an iPod, which does everything a phone does except call people. My BFF, who is 15, just got a phone, not because she wanted one, but because she needed one to be able to contact her parents while she is at school. The only thing the two of us use our devices for is writing. So yeah. There's my rant.
(August 17, 2016 - 8:13 am)
Sorry, Daisy and anyone else who I made feel bad for liking social media. Truth is I could have made a totally different post on the advantages of social media and there are advantages to them for sure. (I sort of hinted as much at the end of my previous post.) I think the problem arises when it's used excessively. That's all. :)
(August 17, 2016 - 9:27 am)