Today, I was drawn into a discussion on Facebook. Despite the nature of the posts, and the content, I urge the reader to don a sarcastic 'inner voice' and appreciate the tongue-in-cheek nature of the discussion. However, I quite enjoyed the conversation and felt I covered some good points. This, what follows is the transcription. My posts are those not italicised.
Blimey are you going to be telling us about your toilet habits next? We seem to be having a blow by blow commentary of your day...
Twitter and Facebook, as social media, were designed after the early noughties surge in blogging as a way for people to maintain contact and witness what people are doing in life.
The act of following someone on such social media is essentially telling the servers "Please update me with what this person is doing." As such, you can follow those people whom you enjoy witnessing updates from, and can remove those whom you dislike at whim. Incidentally, I would imagine that is also why Facebook and Twitter do not alert someone that they have been 'unfollowed' - it removes the social awkwardness of the act.
My point being, I follow people on Facebook and Twitter because I like to hear and see what my sister, niece, nephew or friends are up to - even on the days when it appears that each and every of their minor details has been posted (from home baking to toilet training the children) without complaint because that's what I signed up for.
Yet you never comment?!
The Dictionary describes 'Comment' as:
"— noun
a remark, observation, or criticism"
If I have nothing worthwhile to add to a post, I won't. Commenting something like "Cool", or "That looks nice" is pointless and redundant. It does nothing more than to feed an ego.
I will, however, often hit 'Like' (as that is it's primary function; to support a post without written comment - not, in fact, to save starving children in Africa); more often, however, I will scroll down, smiling at the photo of your baking, or giggling that the child you are toilet training has just urinated on your tights, without feeling the need to comment on it. I've looked at it. You all know how much I am on Facebook and Twitter, so you can be pretty sure that I've seen it. I don't have time to comment on every post on my feed (nor would I wish to) and by only commenting on ones where I feel that my comment actually adds something, grants weight to the few comments that I do choose to post. Those are the ones where I have purposefully chosen to take the time to reply. It's nothing personal.
I wouldn't expect people to post constantly on my Facebook; in fact I quite often get annoyed when someone feels the need to constantly post on my wall or comment on every post I write. I use Social Media as a way of sharing the world I am experiencing as I experience it. To be on it all day, every day, and commenting on everyone else's posts whilst rarely writing their own is solid evidence of that person needing to go out and experience life more.
Good lord. Surely better to actually live and enjoy life than constantly post on Facebook about it?!
Good lord. Surely better to actually live and enjoy life than constantly take photos on a digital camera?!
That's an example; for clarity, I am not pointing fingers at anyone I know. A digital camera to them is another method of doing what Social Media allows me to do. It's a way of capturing the experience and storing it for future reference, like an online open journal. It's also a good exercise for myself as a writer to constantly observe the world, capture and record the bits that catch my eye, and practice journalistic writing as I do so.
As another commenter added: "It's basically a very very simplistic version of digital scrapbooking" and I think that just about sums up my thoughts on Social Media, and certainly is a good explanation of my interaction with it.
Just remember, kids, hitting like won't save the children in Africa, doing something about the issue will.
