Twice in the last week I've been tackled on the subject of social networking. The prevailing feeling has been of total disbelief that "someone like me" should be using it.
"Is it not just all media types." is the opening shot , ...people with nothing better to do etc...and then we get to the gossipy revelations and the nasty attempts at bullying.
I find it fairly hard to defend Face Book and Twitter but I still use them...I had to explain to a friend that the last time I "liked" one of her posts Facebook had written in my status
"Jean Rolt fucking likes science" I nearly wrote effing but there is no point about being meally mouthed over this! it took a bit of explaining that that was the heading over something I'd enjoyed!
To explain to people that even given all it's problems and missuse, it is something I enjoy a lot because it keeps me in touch with old friends I may never see again. Also that you make new friends.
There is often a snort at that point....real friends are people you go to the pub with not exchange a few words on a modern device...Some of the people who despise Twitter also despise smart phones and pads so I'm never going to be able to explain the miracle...the sheer wonder of talking to people I don't know, may never meet but who have become valued friends . People I care about, have a laugh with, complain with...and generally just have a natter....
The old enjoy it just as much as the young...and like everything good in life it can also be used negatively. If you are a positive person you will get out of it what you put into it....and for me it's all good!
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1 comment:
I think that social media does help to build relationships, and sometimes you get to meet the people you know online, offline as well, which is a bonus.
It can also be an educational and debating medium, I know that I've learned and grown enormously through it's use.
And, on the social side, it allows me to keep in touch with distant friends and family, some of whom I haven't seen for years, or are now living on the other side of the world, particularly Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
I have been working on my family tree, which is also another form of social media. It has allowed me to contact distant family members, and to really dig up secrets, some good, some bad, about ancestors. I now share my tree online with over 18 different distant relatives, and some cousins that I hadn't seen since I was a child.
So, when someone challenges me, I let them know it's up to them to control their privacy settings and who they share their online life with. Most don't seem to understand that they have this choice, which scares me sometimes.
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