I find social media extremely fascinating and that is part of the reason I am taking a course on it. Overall, I suppose I am very much a proponent of social media. I acknowledge that there are certainly negative aspects of it, the main one probably being how it can be a major distraction, but I often find myself arguing for it. I love the ability to be connected to a wide variety of people and ideas, both on a personal and professional level.

Here is a list of social media platforms that I either have used or still use in order of when I started using them:

Social media platforms that I no longer use

MSN Messenger: As far as I remember, the first social media platform I ever experienced was MSN Messenger, which is no longer in existence. I find that a lot of people kind of forget about this one and reference MySpace and Facebook as the platforms that really began the social media takeover, but this was huge for me all through my high school years. I really loved it because it was such a fun way to socialize with friends outside of school. Looking back, I really do think it complemented my social life rather than taking away potential face-to-face time.

MySpace: I was originally drawn to MySpace because it was the first social media service that allowed interaction with bands and other artists. Eventually I started using it to interact with friends in my social circle as well.

Nexopia: This was a fairly quick fad during my high school years. I think it was marketed as a platform similar to MySpace but for a younger age group. It looks like the website is still around; however, it has completely changed in the decade or so since I last used it.

Hi5: This was an even quicker fad during high school. I remember signing up for it but didn’t use it for long. It was another MySpace-type site that never really took off. I was actually surprised to see that it is still functioning.

Social media platforms that I still use

Facebook: I opened my Facebook page in 2007 and it quickly became my main social media tool. Because I was still pretty young at that time, I definitely had to do some “wall-cleaning” once I grew up a bit. As with many others I know, my usage of it has definitely receded in recent years, but I still find it useful for things like event planning. I do definitely keep my profile private.

Lookbook.nu: This is thought of as a fashion blog, but in my opinion it is really more of a social media site because the content is entirely user generated. Users submit photos of themselves in hip outfits and the photos that receive the most “hype” votes (similar to likes) rise to the top of the feed. Sadly but inevitably, it has slowly been infiltrated by corporate marketing, but I still go on it from time to time.

Instagram: This is definitely my favorite social media platform. I like it because it is not overly time consuming, and I have always enjoyed photography as a hobby.

Pinterest: Yes, I am part of the extreme minority of men who use Pinterest and yes, I used it mostly for wedding ideas. I do still interact with it occasionally, but not very often.

LinkedIn: I signed up for LinkedIn about a year ago after I heard from a few former MLIS students that it helped them get a job and was generally useful for networking. I just use it as an online resume that I update when it is necessary.

Twitter: I am still pretty new to Twitter. I previously sent out tweets for the men’s health network that I work for and finally got around to signing up for my own account just a few months ago. I am still figuring out how I feel about it.

Reflection

It is actually quite interesting to see just how involved I have been with social media since I began high school. I had not realized that until I really thought about all the platforms of have used and laid them all out here chronologically.