What if social makes us anti-social?
I have been thinking recently about social media and my experience with them. A couple days ago I had watched this video about Project Glass, a new augmented reality technology Google is starting to try to develop, a sort of a multi-media tool or platform that would be integrated into a pair of glasses, so that your text messages, video calls, social media activities, applications such as maps etc. would all be displayed right in front of your eye. The video showing the possible product's functions and use was full of examples of how this could be used with social media. (I shall refrain from commenting on the fact that the only used platform was Google+, which nobody really uses in real life.)
While the geek (and Google fan) in me thought that this was extremely cool, at the same time, it made me wonder, whether this is something that would be appealing to me.
The first "social medium" I had started using - excluding the chat rooms and online boards that I used to visit when I was younger - was Livejournal. I literally grew up with LJ. What I loved about it was connecting with people who shared my interests, people I had something in common with, and getting to know these people, or at least some of them. Also, LJ served as an outlet for my own opinions, interests, problems, thoughts - a journal. That was before blogging became widely popular, before Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr.
I remember wondering what the hell Tumblr was good for - it seemed to me like a stripped down version of LJ that allowed you to post only minimal texts, which seemed rather silly for me. I was used to reading, to writing. The fact that social media would become as instant, immediate and "reduced" didn't cross my mind back then. I still don't care much for Tumblr or Twitter. What I do use regularly, though, is Facebook.
However, as addictive as it is, Facebook has never had and I daresay never will have the value that Livejournal has had for me. I also never find myself being "upset" when Facebook is down, and I don't miss Facebook when I don't use it the way I missed LJ. When LJ was down, it was… TERRIBLE. When FB is down (which doesn't very often, admittedly), I just move on to other things and even feel better, because I'm not wasting time on it. LJ for me was about true connections and, as silly as it may sound, about friendships and shared passions. I believe there's so much to that - to connection and passion - than clicking a LIKE button.
I miss what Livejournal used to be for me - possibly it is because I have changed, because all of us have changed and grown (apart), but LJ isn't the same anymore. I don't have the close-knit communities/groups of friends that I used to have. My friends don't post as often as they used to and neither do I. I wonder if LJ is dying in general or if it's just the fraction that I see and read that is dying?
I wonder if (social) media that require us to spend more time, that require us to write and think and read, are losing their momentum in general?
What makes me use Facebook is, in part, the fact that I want people to respond. (Isn't that what drives all social media?!) And somehow, a like is never quite as satisfactory as a good old comment, something the other party actually takes time to think about and write down.
I find Facebook and Twitter and Google+ and co. kind of… unsatisfactory, while at the same time I appreciate their immediacy. Though on the other hand… I wonder how I feel about that, too: it used to be nice/cathartic to write everything down once the event was over, to relive or ponder the events later.
I sometimes feel like being connected all the time takes something away from the relationships we have. (Just to make things clear: I do appreciate social media a lot, I think a lot of what we have available today is awesome. I just choose not to elaborate on that point in this post.) If I let everyone know what I'm doing while I'm doing it, using one sentence to talk about it, aren't I missing out on the "story-telling" part later? aren't I missing out on conversations I could have, recapping my day to a friend/partner/family member? Because if they have seen it on Facebook already, what's the point in repeating it to them? (I know that I am simplifying, because you'll never post on FB in full detail.) If I'm connected all the time, doesn't it make me focus less on the action or even itself, because a part of my attention is drawn to my posting about it on social media?
Like I said, the geek in me loves the technology and loves the possibilities - at the same time, a part of me remains old-fashioned and nostalgic. I even miss hand-written letters in the mail.
PS: Once again, this is not an anti-FB/anti-social-media rant. I will admit that sometimes I like FB very much. :)
While the geek (and Google fan) in me thought that this was extremely cool, at the same time, it made me wonder, whether this is something that would be appealing to me.
The first "social medium" I had started using - excluding the chat rooms and online boards that I used to visit when I was younger - was Livejournal. I literally grew up with LJ. What I loved about it was connecting with people who shared my interests, people I had something in common with, and getting to know these people, or at least some of them. Also, LJ served as an outlet for my own opinions, interests, problems, thoughts - a journal. That was before blogging became widely popular, before Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr.
I remember wondering what the hell Tumblr was good for - it seemed to me like a stripped down version of LJ that allowed you to post only minimal texts, which seemed rather silly for me. I was used to reading, to writing. The fact that social media would become as instant, immediate and "reduced" didn't cross my mind back then. I still don't care much for Tumblr or Twitter. What I do use regularly, though, is Facebook.
However, as addictive as it is, Facebook has never had and I daresay never will have the value that Livejournal has had for me. I also never find myself being "upset" when Facebook is down, and I don't miss Facebook when I don't use it the way I missed LJ. When LJ was down, it was… TERRIBLE. When FB is down (which doesn't very often, admittedly), I just move on to other things and even feel better, because I'm not wasting time on it. LJ for me was about true connections and, as silly as it may sound, about friendships and shared passions. I believe there's so much to that - to connection and passion - than clicking a LIKE button.
I miss what Livejournal used to be for me - possibly it is because I have changed, because all of us have changed and grown (apart), but LJ isn't the same anymore. I don't have the close-knit communities/groups of friends that I used to have. My friends don't post as often as they used to and neither do I. I wonder if LJ is dying in general or if it's just the fraction that I see and read that is dying?
I wonder if (social) media that require us to spend more time, that require us to write and think and read, are losing their momentum in general?
What makes me use Facebook is, in part, the fact that I want people to respond. (Isn't that what drives all social media?!) And somehow, a like is never quite as satisfactory as a good old comment, something the other party actually takes time to think about and write down.
I find Facebook and Twitter and Google+ and co. kind of… unsatisfactory, while at the same time I appreciate their immediacy. Though on the other hand… I wonder how I feel about that, too: it used to be nice/cathartic to write everything down once the event was over, to relive or ponder the events later.
I sometimes feel like being connected all the time takes something away from the relationships we have. (Just to make things clear: I do appreciate social media a lot, I think a lot of what we have available today is awesome. I just choose not to elaborate on that point in this post.) If I let everyone know what I'm doing while I'm doing it, using one sentence to talk about it, aren't I missing out on the "story-telling" part later? aren't I missing out on conversations I could have, recapping my day to a friend/partner/family member? Because if they have seen it on Facebook already, what's the point in repeating it to them? (I know that I am simplifying, because you'll never post on FB in full detail.) If I'm connected all the time, doesn't it make me focus less on the action or even itself, because a part of my attention is drawn to my posting about it on social media?
Like I said, the geek in me loves the technology and loves the possibilities - at the same time, a part of me remains old-fashioned and nostalgic. I even miss hand-written letters in the mail.
PS: Once again, this is not an anti-FB/anti-social-media rant. I will admit that sometimes I like FB very much. :)