Our Social Crisis
Over the past few years I have been looking to reinvent myself, to become someone who "belongs" in the world where all the crazy listeners are. No really, who are these people? I mean, everywhere I go, there seems to be some nut who is eager to lean in on whatever I got goin' on, and let me tell ya, friend, it's nothing.
Why am I so paranoid? I will try to explain.
Social media, I mean, I dig it, man. No really, I use it daily, and sometimes for long periods of time. Sometimes it's literally all day. I like to add my pictures, add my links, read the articles, catch the news, I do a little eavesdropping on friends myself. But I've come to realize that social media isn't private, even if you set it up to be private. I would even go so far as to say that, in a world where social media exists, people are apt to forget the meaning of privacy.
And I don't say users lightly, either. Let's go over some problem areas on Facebook. There's the stalking problem. The addiction to social media problem, the -drop'em like they're hot, 'no loser friends policy' problem-, or the political unfriending. There are those who show too much, and some with Fort Knox discipline. But that's a problem, too, because you kinda resent that discipline, and frankly, they're just too hard to stalk.
And then there's the famous dramatic insult Facebook post. This one is pretty common, if you do not know someone personally who has been guilty of a desperate attempt to retaliate online, you have probably seen a meme or a screenshot. Or maybe you're guilty of this, in which case, I'm super sorry about that. This kind of post is somewhat like megaphoning or standing on a street corner with your poster board, complaining at someone. But these people are literally speaking to possibly thousands of people. And going viral isn't for wusses.
Or is it?
The average Joe goes viral.
This tends to look really sad to outsiders, but hell, I may as well confess, I have tried to come up with clever ways to shame people in this same unflattering, dramatic display of resentment. If you have had a bad thought about someone and you want to get others on board your rant, you post it, and right away.
Interestingly, instead of it becoming a taboo in the early days of Myspace and Facebook, as it should have become, it evolved into an art form with the ever popular Twitter. Which leads me to my next point.
Didn't it used to be a thing for people with any credibility, status, or a "name" they didn't want dragged through the muck and mire to try to uphold their reputation?
I don't think one single person in the news today isn't there because they haven't "entered the conversation." But what makes this gossip fest entertaining is that we have entered into the age of being scared to really say anything. So people, instead of coming to the heart of the matter -finding solutions, discussing plans - have begun to say things objectionably, obnoxiously, or offensively, just to relay some kind of emotional response to the masses.
It is the equivalent of a grunt. Twitter, in so many words, is just a bunch of gruntings. We'll now call it grunties, because that is what my father used to call going number 2, and I always thought that was catchy.
Now, being cute, clever, funny, has this somehow managed to shed off a few pounds of maturity from the American public? I don't ask this as a not guilty party, and you don't need to be sold. I have been more than once depressed, humiliated, and distraught in the wee hours of the morning over some of the more or less ridiculous things I thought were amusing only hours before, as I am confident you have as well. Although I could just be that kind of person.
Whether I'm flawed and stunted or not, somehow, I feel there ought to be an extra step in place which makes people think twice about posting on social media. Something to the tune of, "Is it smart? Is it wise? Will someone think you've got s--- for brains ... " if you post that? Double click and pick all the pictures with mailboxes if you're absolutely, 100% on this, Mary.
Sometimes we think we are being clever, but maybe it is just a waste of time and wall space. We haven't worked out all the kinks to this social media stuff yet.
Why am I so paranoid? I will try to explain.
Social media, I mean, I dig it, man. No really, I use it daily, and sometimes for long periods of time. Sometimes it's literally all day. I like to add my pictures, add my links, read the articles, catch the news, I do a little eavesdropping on friends myself. But I've come to realize that social media isn't private, even if you set it up to be private. I would even go so far as to say that, in a world where social media exists, people are apt to forget the meaning of privacy.
And why not? They get used to everyone saying, sharing, exposing themselves in ways completely undreamed of before now. Why don't we just delve a little into some of the now "normal" behaviors that were once seriously frowned upon.
First some facts-
First some facts-
Since 2004 Facebook has been connecting billions, well over 2 billion log on worldwide. Sixty-eight percent of Americans are users.
And I don't say users lightly, either. Let's go over some problem areas on Facebook. There's the stalking problem. The addiction to social media problem, the -drop'em like they're hot, 'no loser friends policy' problem-, or the political unfriending. There are those who show too much, and some with Fort Knox discipline. But that's a problem, too, because you kinda resent that discipline, and frankly, they're just too hard to stalk.
And then there's the famous dramatic insult Facebook post. This one is pretty common, if you do not know someone personally who has been guilty of a desperate attempt to retaliate online, you have probably seen a meme or a screenshot. Or maybe you're guilty of this, in which case, I'm super sorry about that. This kind of post is somewhat like megaphoning or standing on a street corner with your poster board, complaining at someone. But these people are literally speaking to possibly thousands of people. And going viral isn't for wusses.
Or is it?
The average Joe goes viral.
This tends to look really sad to outsiders, but hell, I may as well confess, I have tried to come up with clever ways to shame people in this same unflattering, dramatic display of resentment. If you have had a bad thought about someone and you want to get others on board your rant, you post it, and right away.
Interestingly, instead of it becoming a taboo in the early days of Myspace and Facebook, as it should have become, it evolved into an art form with the ever popular Twitter. Which leads me to my next point.
Didn't it used to be a thing for people with any credibility, status, or a "name" they didn't want dragged through the muck and mire to try to uphold their reputation?
I don't think one single person in the news today isn't there because they haven't "entered the conversation." But what makes this gossip fest entertaining is that we have entered into the age of being scared to really say anything. So people, instead of coming to the heart of the matter -finding solutions, discussing plans - have begun to say things objectionably, obnoxiously, or offensively, just to relay some kind of emotional response to the masses.
It is the equivalent of a grunt. Twitter, in so many words, is just a bunch of gruntings. We'll now call it grunties, because that is what my father used to call going number 2, and I always thought that was catchy.
Now, being cute, clever, funny, has this somehow managed to shed off a few pounds of maturity from the American public? I don't ask this as a not guilty party, and you don't need to be sold. I have been more than once depressed, humiliated, and distraught in the wee hours of the morning over some of the more or less ridiculous things I thought were amusing only hours before, as I am confident you have as well. Although I could just be that kind of person.
Whether I'm flawed and stunted or not, somehow, I feel there ought to be an extra step in place which makes people think twice about posting on social media. Something to the tune of, "Is it smart? Is it wise? Will someone think you've got s--- for brains ... " if you post that? Double click and pick all the pictures with mailboxes if you're absolutely, 100% on this, Mary.
Sometimes we think we are being clever, but maybe it is just a waste of time and wall space. We haven't worked out all the kinks to this social media stuff yet.
Some of your coworkers will relate, some of your coworkers will feel sorry for your kids, and some of your coworkers will wonder if you feel the same way about them that you feel about your kids.
I have had to seriously crack down on my offenses. I find myself in fear, going back through my activity log and sifting through the garbage, so my legacy won't be one of idiocy, because I am a serial poster.
I can only go back so far though, and I am grateful, as I am sure many who are really involved in social media are. But for those out there who we already mentioned, with some kind of a reputation and social standing they have to worry about, they have their trolls, and those trolls always seem to find old problem posts.
Joe posted something on social media that offended Sally Anne. Today Joe needs a file for Dave and Sally Anne is sitting on it, blank faced.
I've come to learn over the course of becoming acquainted with the social media uprising, that you have to be basic, and that is the person I intend to become. For the most part, basic is some kind of modern insult, but I cannot see how they managed to arrange that. I just looked it up and I am completely satisfied with the definition. It says of basic, "abandoning sophistication and complication to concentrate on the most essential aspects of something" Kind of the old rule all over again, just stick to the weather. And that, both literally and metaphorically, is really good advice.
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