Very very interesting. When I started reading I was thinking of rebuttals based on how I use Facebook but Twitter is such a different animal I never really get much use out of it. As an introvert, for me facebook doesn't substitute for real communication, it instead provides a "greater than zero" amount of communication between me and my relatives. It also puts me in touch with amicable strangers through groups. It's only as valuable as the other participants. MOst of my cousins and nephews/nieces are on and I can learn of life events even if no one thinks to tell me directly. Definitely requires great care. I'm banal enough that it appears to be a facade.
I am glad you decided to post this when you did. I personally do not use Twitter, do not own a smartphone and while I do have a Facebook account, I use an alias and use it more or less exclusively for the reasons of keeping tabs on immediate family and promoting my own blog.
This is also one of the reasons I decided to put forth the International Correspondence Initiative; to really connect with people. There is something far more personal about a typewritten or hand-penned letter that the internet will never have anything on. Our constantly wired society serves to isolate us further, expose our vulnerabilities and take away the skill of real person-to-person communication. Tis' a scary cyber-world we live in, but if we are careful and choosy, it doesn't have to be.
I agree with your comment on insta-celebs and the universal unconscious' seeming to yearn for such. Gone are the days of leading a quiet, productive life in anonymity, replaced by the need to tweet or status update every moment of our lives away. I will have no part of it.
You are preaching to this Luddite choir of one, my brother. Preach on!
The closest I get to social media is blogging. I have never used Facebook, but I did have a Myspace in high school that I have not used in forever, as it was mostly to promote the music I made. I started a Twitter for my writing, and never used it. I just cannot get into it. Whenever someone asks why I don't have a Facebook, I just tell them that I have a hard enough time avoiding people in real life, and don't need to make that harder with the internet. I choose to stay completely disconnected from the world (aside from typewriters, as per the blog). I have no television, do not watch or read the news, have no idea of any current events whatsoever, and have little to no human contact outside of work.
Thanks for the read. It was interesting and, most of all, true. I try to use private browsing when looking for something I plan to purchase (aside from eBay), as that is another way they get you. If you are comparing prices on several sites for one item, and then go back a few days later to make the purchase, have you ever noticed that the price may have gone up a couple dollars? Nothing huge, but my brother was telling me about this the other week, the way prices are being gouged based on your cookies and whatnot. Something to think about...
This reads 100% true to me. It may not be the whole truth (there can be salutary uses of these media, as notagain points out), but you have described the negatives to a T.
I have stopped rating or "liking" things online. That's just another piece of yourself you're tossing into the data/marketing machine.
See this typecast on my blog, if you haven't yet, for a prophetic vision of our social media world from 1918.
Very very interesting. When I started reading I was thinking of rebuttals based on how I use Facebook but Twitter is such a different animal I never really get much use out of it.
ReplyDeleteAs an introvert, for me facebook doesn't substitute for real communication, it instead provides a "greater than zero" amount of communication between me and my relatives. It also puts me in touch with amicable strangers through groups.
It's only as valuable as the other participants. MOst of my cousins and nephews/nieces are on and I can learn of life events even if no one thinks to tell me directly.
Definitely requires great care. I'm banal enough that it appears to be a facade.
I am glad you decided to post this when you did. I personally do not use Twitter, do not own a smartphone and while I do have a Facebook account, I use an alias and use it more or less exclusively for the reasons of keeping tabs on immediate family and promoting my own blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is also one of the reasons I decided to put forth the International Correspondence Initiative; to really connect with people. There is something far more personal about a typewritten or hand-penned letter that the internet will never have anything on. Our constantly wired society serves to isolate us further, expose our vulnerabilities and take away the skill of real person-to-person communication. Tis' a scary cyber-world we live in, but if we are careful and choosy, it doesn't have to be.
I agree with your comment on insta-celebs and the universal unconscious' seeming to yearn for such. Gone are the days of leading a quiet, productive life in anonymity, replaced by the need to tweet or status update every moment of our lives away. I will have no part of it.
You are preaching to this Luddite choir of one, my brother. Preach on!
The closest I get to social media is blogging. I have never used Facebook, but I did have a Myspace in high school that I have not used in forever, as it was mostly to promote the music I made. I started a Twitter for my writing, and never used it. I just cannot get into it. Whenever someone asks why I don't have a Facebook, I just tell them that I have a hard enough time avoiding people in real life, and don't need to make that harder with the internet.
ReplyDeleteI choose to stay completely disconnected from the world (aside from typewriters, as per the blog). I have no television, do not watch or read the news, have no idea of any current events whatsoever, and have little to no human contact outside of work.
Thanks for the read. It was interesting and, most of all, true. I try to use private browsing when looking for something I plan to purchase (aside from eBay), as that is another way they get you. If you are comparing prices on several sites for one item, and then go back a few days later to make the purchase, have you ever noticed that the price may have gone up a couple dollars? Nothing huge, but my brother was telling me about this the other week, the way prices are being gouged based on your cookies and whatnot. Something to think about...
This reads 100% true to me. It may not be the whole truth (there can be salutary uses of these media, as notagain points out), but you have described the negatives to a T.
ReplyDeleteI have stopped rating or "liking" things online. That's just another piece of yourself you're tossing into the data/marketing machine.
See this typecast on my blog, if you haven't yet, for a prophetic vision of our social media world from 1918.