5 Problems with Social Media
5 Problems with Social Media……
A 30 day writing challenge- Day One
Social media Apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others have great advantages, such as making communication so much easier, and faster. Or making this great big world a smaller place again, connecting friends and families around the globe. Like anything this good, there is always some ad news following the good news. Here are five problems I have with social media. There may be more, but I am limiting myself.
Filters – Filters drive me absolutely crazy! They are not cute. At all. Sometimes I understand when certain filters can add fun flare to a photograph. As a photographer I prefer to add such effects manually. Before I snap the photo, I add the real hats, real glasses, real physical props, and makeup. Let’s not try to look like a fairy tale fake Bambi in our living rooms ladies. You want freckles- start speckling on that eyeliner pencil, and practice up on your costume makeup, and contouring. Filters are only destroying imaginations with every single selfie.
The more time I spend communicating on messenger the less human I feel. I still enjoy daily hand written letters and face to face conversations all the time. It’s important to remember there are real human beings on the other end of that feed, so whenever possible talk directly and messenger or text when not possible. Feel more human again- it’s pretty cool!
Content- Some people will share all their dirty laundry with the online community. I’m going to guess that about 1/3 of people’s posts that come across in my feed are just drama spoons itching to stir the pot. Keep to cute baby animals and yummy recipes, funny memes, and uplifting quotes. Occasionally great stories, and update photos from family adventures. Do be careful not to be overly descriptive and watch for cyber predators.
I really don’t wish to know who pissed off who and why. It wasn’t my business and I prefer to keep it that way.
Also don’t post very personal sad news, i.e. family member’s death. Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram are the absolute worst informers of such heart wrenching information. Wait until all the important phone calls are made, and immediate family has been contacted in person first before leaking such news online.
Stop POKING & Waving!!! Was that an accidental click while stalking my profile? Just say hello and own up to it. Seriously poking waving and sending multiple friend requests within days of each other as the same person is super annoying. Please stop, it’s not cool.
Remember when you knew what time dinner was and as long as you showed up on time and were not calling your folks to pick you up from the local jailhouse, then it didn’t matter nearly as much where you were or what you were doing. It was so much easier to get into good clean trouble, something that kids now a days will never know about. Mud fights in the old abandoned sawmill, or climbing
through culverts underground so technically we were not crossing the road. Building forts high on the hill, and exploring till we heard momma yelling.
Social media has made it so incredibly easy to track everyone all the time and there is no longer any mystery left. Everything is instant.
It’s time to disconnect! Leave your phone or table behind and go! Go climb a mountain, or split a chord of firewood, play a ball game with kids, or try a new dish for dinner. Remember what it was like to truly live free of chains! Make all those watchers wonder what you’re up to! Teach them that old time value called patience.Or go pick them up and drag them along- no electronics club!
Social Media is great, but it is also what we make of it. Social Media is also here to stay, and it’s absolutely not going anywhere, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t! So go…..
Adventure on……..
Five problems with social media...
By Erin St. Clair
Social media has many positive aspects. First and foremost, for me, it offered a great way for me to stay in touch with friends and family from all over the place. What began on Myspace, morphed into a Facebook craze that even our grandmothers got on board with. While one may think this made it better, because for those of us trying to stay connected to one another, it has, in my opinion, changed for the worse for the following reasons... 1. It has rapidly become the source of misinformation.
1. It has rapidly become the source of misinformation. I'm not sure when it exactly happened, but Facebook became politics central. Personally I'm all for everyone having their own page in which to share their opinions, information, and discuss their views. How could we go wrong? Well, one look at the comment section of a news article on Facebook clearly shows somewhere we went wrong... Now one log in to Facebook shows political arguments, bullying, completely annoying selfies (thousands of them in one week) and more.... but for me the worst feature has been how quickly misinformation has spread. Think of how fast these death hoaxes make their way around. Now imagine the damage that is being done when misinformation is spread about important things... like political figures, and more...
2. The poke, wave feature on Facebook... I'm not sure why they are there, or if they actually had a purpose that was other than for creepy guys who are otherwise afraid to talk to you, to reach out... but please, do away with those. No one needs to "poke" me, it's weird.
3. People who feel the need to share everything, or overshare.. I don't want to see your dinner, I don't want to hear about your breakup, (for the 6th time this week) and I damn sure don't want to hear about your sex life... I want to see funny memes, or pictures of your children, or hear about the great day you had. I refuse to respond to your vague statuses, (prayers please, don't ask why) and I'm not forwarding anything just because it says I hate my mother if I don't.. stop doing that!! And for goodness sake don't send me chain mail in my inbox!!
4. What was once a great tool for families, has also been known to tear them apart... From disagreements over political issues, to face recognition features on FB accidentally outing a cheater, (Facebook was listed in 1/3 of all divorce filings in 2014) Facebook hasn't always brought people together.
5. Social media, as any technological advance we have has its downsides, one major one being, more people are retreating from the real world, and instead using Facebook to communicate. Its impersonal, and it removes the ability to personalize.. I'm sarcastic to a flaw, if one were to read some of my comments on social media, they may think I'm a hateful human being, but typing words isn't the same as speaking them, and a joke told in person, may not have the same tone, as one may assume when reading it. While I'm definitely a Facebook addict, there are many flaws to social media, these being my top 5.