Anyone who knows me knows I've come to loathe social media. It creates a distorted reality where everything is a highlight rather than the grind of the heavy lifting of existence. Everyone wants to say, "Hey! Look at me! I did X today! Aren't I special?"
No one posts that they forgot to get milk on the way home from a 10 hour day and have to go back to get it when they want nothing more than to just relax for a few minutes. Instead they have to get back out there, fight traffic and crowds, get their milk and get back home. Twice as exhausted, anxiety rising, it's dark out now, and you've got time to eat and get to bed so you get to do it again the next day!
Social media, in its current form, has become the tool of the stupid and arrogant. TikTok's entire business model is to do this very thing in short format! Something brief and entertaining enough to keep the user from turning it off to increase screen time.
My blog assignment this week is to talk about a breast cancer meme on the most evil of social media sites, Facebook.
"One of the most powerful forms of social media mobilization is cyberactivism. Here, individuals utilize the Internet to promote a particular cause or charity." Yeah...maybe but what about the causes that go unheard? People at the end of their rope but because they don't have a following their pleas go ignored. Social media dehumanizes the individual and creates a character instead. A character that may have similar traits but a character and not a real person.
The thing is that the charity decided to get the message out with double entendre prompts where users gave their bra color. "One private message asked females to change their Facebook status to the location where they like to put their purse. These status updates would read “I like it on the floor” or “I like it behind the couch.” So you can see that while this is harmless fun it can send a message that might not be intended on a platform everyone can access.
I have zero use for social media and it's a problem during this term because both courses deal with me having to create social media accounts again. I have to get on Twitter again, wade through that cesspool and find marketers on there to follow.
So to sum up, there are no pros to social media. There is an entire world out there to live in and experience with real people. If you don't like the world we have, well you aren't going to fix it by sitting on a social media site and complaining about it.
1 comment:
I must say this blog post was quite refreshing. And I have to admit that I often feel this same way about social media. In some ways, I enjoy the way it keeps us connected. I've been able to stay in touch with high school and college friends, and connect with others who have common interests. But yes, those that create perfect worlds for themselves to display on Facebook, for instance, and those that "vaguebook" when they have problems are beyond annoying. As far as cyberactivism, I agree with you that social media favors the larger, more well-known organizations, but there are times when social media can help lesser-known charitable groups that otherwise wouldn't get much attention. This doesn't happen all that often, but a recent situation - the Betty White Birthday Challenge - enabled small, local animal shelters, rescue groups, and such - receive funds they normally wouldn't get. For instance, one of my friends does a lot of dog rescue and rehoming but I'd never been enticed/driven to donate. On Jan. 17, because I loved Betty White (didn't we all?), I donated to the group my friend works with and I shared it on Facebook. I then had a couple other people comment that they were thankful to know of the group because they didn't know of one to donate to. Now, did this bit of cyberactivism provide longtime financial help to that organization? No. Probably not, but it did on that day, and maybe on future days when the focus turns to pet rescue.
I do share your feelings on TikTok. I personally think it's stupid. I have friends who have told me they find recipes on there and other helpful subjects. But all I see, nine times out of 10, is garbage. And in October, my boss added TikTok to my duties as part of my job responsibilities. Am I happy about it? Absolutely not. Are my videos of the quality that some more talented than I are able to make with all the edits and clever music and more? No. But I've made a few that aren't bad. They're engaging and I think fun. And then I'm disturbed to see that a nice, eyecatching video I've posted on our TikTok account, a whole 20 seconds long, enjoyed average views of FOUR seconds. Seriously? But I still have to do it. I am excited that we are hiring a new part-time person who has some experience with it, so that will help. But still, I don't think it's worth the time investment for what it might garner us in attention and economic impact.
I enjoyed your post. And really appreciate the complete honesty. Thank you! - Beth
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