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| Where everybody is nobody and nobody is somebody. |
Let's be real. I have a love/hate relationship with social media.
I joined Facebook the second year it was available when you had to have a college email address to use it. I added everyone I even slightly recognized from classes. It was great because the platform was exclusive enough that you weren't worried about stalkers (or family) but inclusive enough that you could ask for the day's homework assignment from the random kid that sat two rows down from you in class.
It didn't take long though before Facebook was opened up to everyone. And then they started tracking you as an ad statistic. :( Unfortunately, if you leave, you struggle to keep with everybody you went to high school or college with. And then there are friends – Who do you get rid of and when? Facebook can make friendship that much more complicated.
I was all anti-Twitter for years and years and years. I joined for work and kept it because it was a much more exclusive platform. There is also something adorable about having a character limit.
As more friends of mine began to join Twitter, I started posting less. (Sorry friends!)
Instagram is the one social media outlet that I couldn't wait to get my hands on! I had a non-smartphone far longer than I should have. I didn't want to pay for the upgrade AND I was afraid I'd drop it and break it. A lack of smartphone for years and years meant no instagram. Eventually my in-laws bought me a smartphone; instagram was the first app I downloaded. Oh – and it took me 3 years before I broke my first smartphone; I think I did pretty good. :)
This was my chosen social media for wedding planning. I was one of the first to join. The biggest problem I found with it? I wanted to do all of the crafts and have the perfect wedding! As with anything I try to be a perfectionist at – I did not succeed at either of my goals. Time was too strained and even the best vendors fell apart on my day of. Oops. As they say, the important part is that we got married, right?
LINKEDIN, TUMBLR, SNAPCHAT, ETC
Somehow I've managed to avoid all of the other social media thus far.
TAKEAWAY
Overall, I love that social media makes it easy to keep up with friends and family, but there are many aspects of social media that I wish didn't exist. Like keeping up appearances. Or having my information used without my consent. Or being targeted for ads. Why can't social media just be simple … like the Yellow Pages used to be?
What are your thoughts on social media? Do you love it or hate it?
* I'm participating in #LoveBlog. Want to join in?
I try very hard to be myself on social media. While my Instagram is a feed full of pretty photos, I often use the captions for "microblogging." Among the small peeks into my life and musings on faith & marriage, I write about Crohn's Disease and grief. I blog about all of these things as well. I think each person has their own boundaries to guide what they will or will not share online. I try to keep mine as real as possible.
ReplyDeleteYes I hate how public Facebook has become. I still love twitter though because it's so quick and easy to just pop out a tweet and the pace is so fast too. And Instagram is my absolute favorite. I haven't spent any time on Pinterest in a long time. I'll pop on occasionally to search for something specific. But I don't mindlessly scroll through like I did in college.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about Twitter is if you need quick responses from businesses who seem to be ignoring, just tweet about it and mention them by name!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a total love-hate relationship with social media as well! There are things I love about it - the sharing, ability to keep in touch, and cool things to find. Then there's also the fact that it's addicting and distracting, which I don't like.
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