Introduction Posts are the Most Boring Posts of All
My name is Megan Brown and I hate social media. Or, more accurately, I’m a social media skeptic. In my personal life, the only social media platforms I currently use with any regularity are Facebook and Reddit. I’ve signed up for Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and I don’t use a single one of them. I don’t even particularly like Facebook all that much; it feels more like an obligation than anything else. Reddit feels like a candy binge for the brain, and not the fun kind of candy binge, the ‘it’s Halloween and I shouldn’t have any more candy and I know I’ll feel sick in the morning but I can’t stop even though I feel mildly ill’ sort of candy binge. I picked up a Reddit habit while I was working graveyard shifts, and I’m trying to quit.
For this blog, I hope to have thoughts inspired by the information provided in class followed by some questions that come up that I’d like some insight on.
Where I’m Coming From
When reading, it’s always good to know the author’s perspective and biases. Here are some of mine:
- I’ve been online for a long time. 21 years this year. Yes, I was online when I was 5. Yes, it was 1993. So some of my jadedness comes from previous experience with fads ending not with a bang, but with a whimper. I did ‘social media’ in the past, but it was mostly forums and then LiveJournal in its heyday.
- I’m visually impaired. Not severely so, but I have neurological-visual issues stemming from childhood blindness that impact how I interact online. This will probably come up, as some of my personal likes, dislikes, and thoughts on social media stem from this aspect of my experience.
- I am a technological pragmatist. I’m very comfortable with technology (I built the computer I’m typing this on), but technology is always goal-centered to me. I don’t tend to engage with it out of novelty or exploration.
Why Do You Hate Social Media?
The dislike I have of social media isn’t like my irrational hatred for the color yellow; there is method to my madness. My dislike is personal and you won’t find any neo-Luddite going-ons about the decline and fall of brilliant intellectual discourse that of course peaked right before our own era. So, the reasons I dislike social media are, broadly speaking:
- Its facilitation of last minute plans and not planning ahead – I also dislike cell phones, to be fair. I enjoy having clearly defined plans and conversational times, and social media doesn’t tend to have that. It’s a never ending flow of information, and I personally can’t handle it, mostly due to my ADD. I lack an internal sense of time, and can’t tell the difference between 2 minutes and 30, so checking social media is fraught with much peril.
- It doesn’t feel fulfilling – I can spend 3 hours on Reddit, but I just feel bad afterwards.
- The communication styles don’t match with mine – As Boyd mentions (and which I’ll be mentioning in my next post), the internet and social media are becoming more visual, and also shorter. Twitter with its 140 characters, Vine with its 6 second videos, etc. As somebody who’s visually impaired, this communication switch is exhausting. Text alone can be zoomed, printed out, read to you, but images are difficult for me to process, especially in large quantities.
If You Hate Social Media, Why Are You Taking a Class About It?
There’s a couple of reasons that I decided to take this class:
- Everybody Else Sure Seems to Like It – People really love social media. It is entirely possible that I’m wrong, missing the point, and just not getting it. I’m open to being proven wrong, or to social media having clear utility to either my life or for the institutions in which I work. I want to expand my horizons.
- Practical Concerns – Workplaces use social media. There is a push for social media. Outside of my preferences for my personal life, I also am interested in library assessment (and I work in the Assessment Office for UBC’s library system). I want to have conversations and understand how social media is used in a library/archival setting, and more specifically use that understanding to define how a successful social media presence can be measured and evaluated. Social media is a really good example of rapid change; at what time do new systems or platforms become worth adopting?
My Question to You:
- Why do you like social media? (We’re starting with an easy question; let’s get those discussion options rolling!)
Oh, so many reasons! Here’s just one example: as I mentioned in my own intro post, I am in a couple of FB parenting groups. One of them is for mothers of kids born in May 2011 — when my youngest was born. This means that I am in daily contact with 60 other women across Canada who all have kids the same age. We share so much, even though we are very different: all we really have in common is a 3.5 yr old and a FB account. These are different from my “real-live” friends (we see each other rarely; some I’ve never met), but they are real friendships nonetheless.
But I totally hear you about the time sink and the binge-eating-ness of it all, Megan. One of my 2015 new year’s resolutions is to spent less time on social media for just this reason.
That’s an interesting point about similar life experiences. I wonder if part of my reluctance is due to my not partaking in most normal/milestone life activities so on a daily level it leaves me less to connect with in regard to social media? So echoing boyd’s assertion that online dynamics reflect offline ones, the same reason I find it hard to relate to people offline would be the reason I have trouble with social media. I have online friends, but they’re not through social media. They’re old-school and done via email mostly.
It’s also interesting how many people I know do take social media sabbaticals/resolve to spend less time on it. I wonder where the boundary of healthy engagement is? What made you decide to step back?
Hi Megan,
I really enjoyed your first post! I completely agree with you with your first point about last minute plans. I have hosted a couple of parties and have invited my friends via Facebook. I found that most people didn’t reply, but many them showed up in the end! I under-catered, because I thought only a few could make it. It seems that being invited to something via social media gives guests an option for how they spend their Saturday night, but they don’t like to commit in case something better comes up?
I think inviting people over other media makes people feel more important, and therefore are more likely commit (and therefore RSVP to the host)!
Hi Megan,
I was really happy to see others who are skeptical about social media in this course. I feel that we share a lot of opinions about social media and technology.
Colleen
Oh I forgot about reddit. That is probably a decently unhealthy sign.
I’m totally in your boat Megan. Especially with your point about practical concerns. I’m of the opinion that bad social media does nothing for an organization, but am wondering if good social media can make a difference. If so, what does good social media look like?
Also, why do I like social media? I can equate it to binge eating potato chips. It’s probably not the best for me, but it feels so good when I’m doing it.
Hi Megan! I really enjoyed reading your blog post, and I especially appreciated your honesty in describing what you dislike about social media. Much like what you stated, a large part of the reason I am taking the course is because I expect I will need to use social media at some point on the job, and I want to understand the ways in which it is being effectively utilized by libraries and other information organizations and what it means to have a successful social media presence.
A big concern of mine is accessibility, so thank you for sharing your concerns about using social media with a visual impairment. If you feel comfortable expanding on this later on in the course I would be really interested in hearing more, especially if you have any thoughts on what can be done to make social media more accessible. (& only if you are interested in doing so, of course!)
Like Beth, I too miss the days when events were better planned (or, in some circles, more spontaneity and community was encouraged because you dropped by a person’s house or something on the chance they were in).
Otherwise, I’m pretty optimistic about social media, actually, but I am also very interested in what you’re seem primed to say this term. Looking forward to it.
Oh my god! This this this “Reddit feels like a candy binge for the brain, and not the fun kind of candy binge, the ‘it’s Halloween and I shouldn’t have any more candy and I know I’ll feel sick in the morning but I can’t stop even though I feel mildly ill’ sort of candy binge. I picked up a Reddit habit while I was working graveyard shifts, and I’m trying to quit.”
I started a reddit habit myself and can’t seem to quit. It’s terrible. Some of the info is great, but there is so much misinformation that I know I’m absorbing. It’s terrible. And don’t even get me started on the rampant misogyny.
Hi Megan! I’m actually replying to your next post, but I can’t find a button to press to put a comment there! I really enjoyed your post and love the idea of facebook being a kind of friend/citation management system 🙂
With regards to your questions:
1. 256 (I had to check!)
2. This has changed over time. In 2006 it was no big deal because only my close friends at uni added me. For the following 3 years, I often added people I only met once or twice (and vice versa). Many of them are still my facebook friends. Now I only add people once I’ve been friends with them for a month or two and I always ask them in person first! I just don’t want to deal with awkward friend requests anymore!
We miss you in class Megan. Hope you are well! Dean