Twitter is a Clique
So I feel like a lot less people are posting on Facebook since the whole 'news feed' debacle started a month or so ago. Ever since they made it easy (and annoying as hell) to inadvertently stalk your friends on Facebook, a lot less posts have come up. I know I barely log in or post anything anymore myself. There isn't the bevy of picture posts from the vainest of my friends. People are getting sick of social media, I think.
I'm particularly not a huge fan of social media anymore. I think the intention to create a more globalized world within our own personal lives is solid and noble but things like Facebook have become beacons for drama and even weapons. I can't be bothered to get into exhausting details of personal experiences, but I'm a relatively drama-free, boring, ordinary person and even I can say that I've had my share of stressful encounters on or because of the website. Considering that I have enough on my plate without having to deal with immature men or competitive friends, I've really cut down on my Facebook time. And I gotta say-- it feels good.
What I have done is start using Twitter alot more because it is largely an audience of strangers who know nothing about my personal life, who can't bother me in real life, who are largely sharing important information about politics, art and culture rather than random tidbits on their shitty relationships. I'm all about information and learning new things about the world. Not so keen on knowing that you have a seventh boyfriend for the year. Yawn. I gotta say, and I know this is terrible, I honestly don't care about some of my friend's personal lives because they are so full of drama. It's like, geez louise. I don't think TV's Friends saw this many unnatural feeling hookups in their decade run.
Twitter sucks for an entirely different reason-- it is a giant internet clique. If you're new to Twitter, expect to be treated like a new kid in a high school. People who regularly use Twitter have long abandoned staple platforms like Facebook and they think you've just come to crash their exclusive party. If you "@" someone who isn't following you, they probably won't "@" you back or follow you. People I've added who have added me back are few and far between. I've had some luck interacting with new people on Twitter but not really anything overwhelmingly meaningful. Not really in the spirit of the social media revolution.
So, I'm trying not to feel like the last kid picked for kick ball right now. It's just a dumb website. I realize that the intellectuals took to Twitter years ago and I never caught on. I was on Facebook preaching to the choir about how much I hate the Tea Party and Rick Scott and other useless wonking that mostly fell on deaf ears because everyone I know--well most everyone--shares my political views. The point of social media isn't to swim in your tiny bowl with the same fish you know. It is to jump out of that bowl into the ocean and start swimming with new fish and swim away from bigger fish who want to eat you.
I think the most discouraging thing about using Twitter has been that very few of the Obama campaign people have added me back. I work on the campaign as a Neighborhood Team Leader and I feel like for the most part, the fellows and staffers aren't very friendly or warm towards volunteers like myself and my co-team leader. We continue to do it because we want to help re-elect the President and we aren't stupid naive assholes who think the best thing to do is go outside and hold a neon poster board and yell about crap. But we do feel kinda shitty when it seems like it is a huge clique.
I've never been a fan of social interactions for this reason. People are unreliable. Strangers and friends alike. And everyone is out to get 'fans' these days. People have become the most narcissistic they have ever been. We are at a height of personal-delusion in today's world. I think that thanks to the useless Kim Kardashian's of the world, we have non-famous people running around acting like people care about their lives and their trivial pursuits. I really think that half of society needs a reality check. I blame MTV. I know I sound like an old fart but I do. It's things like Jersey Shore that have ninteen year old girls wasting their lives on websites like Model Mayhem (where everyone is a god damn model, no matter how fucking ugly or fat or short you are...). People think they can get rich and that being famous is the best way to do that. I think this is probably the most depressing realization I'll ever come to but I think society as a whole stopped intellectually developing sometime in the seventies.
I really think sometimes that I'd rather live on an island away from everyone and everything. If I could just block out 99% of the world, I'd be super happy. I don't give a shit about more than half of the things most people get so passionate about-- reality tv, shopping, having sex with as many partners as humanly possible within a year,Justin Bieber. Please. I just want to get my brain plugged straight into Nina Totenburg. I'm at a loss. I know I'm a dying breed here. I'm not winning this fight. Damn it.
I'm particularly not a huge fan of social media anymore. I think the intention to create a more globalized world within our own personal lives is solid and noble but things like Facebook have become beacons for drama and even weapons. I can't be bothered to get into exhausting details of personal experiences, but I'm a relatively drama-free, boring, ordinary person and even I can say that I've had my share of stressful encounters on or because of the website. Considering that I have enough on my plate without having to deal with immature men or competitive friends, I've really cut down on my Facebook time. And I gotta say-- it feels good.
What I have done is start using Twitter alot more because it is largely an audience of strangers who know nothing about my personal life, who can't bother me in real life, who are largely sharing important information about politics, art and culture rather than random tidbits on their shitty relationships. I'm all about information and learning new things about the world. Not so keen on knowing that you have a seventh boyfriend for the year. Yawn. I gotta say, and I know this is terrible, I honestly don't care about some of my friend's personal lives because they are so full of drama. It's like, geez louise. I don't think TV's Friends saw this many unnatural feeling hookups in their decade run.
Twitter sucks for an entirely different reason-- it is a giant internet clique. If you're new to Twitter, expect to be treated like a new kid in a high school. People who regularly use Twitter have long abandoned staple platforms like Facebook and they think you've just come to crash their exclusive party. If you "@" someone who isn't following you, they probably won't "@" you back or follow you. People I've added who have added me back are few and far between. I've had some luck interacting with new people on Twitter but not really anything overwhelmingly meaningful. Not really in the spirit of the social media revolution.
So, I'm trying not to feel like the last kid picked for kick ball right now. It's just a dumb website. I realize that the intellectuals took to Twitter years ago and I never caught on. I was on Facebook preaching to the choir about how much I hate the Tea Party and Rick Scott and other useless wonking that mostly fell on deaf ears because everyone I know--well most everyone--shares my political views. The point of social media isn't to swim in your tiny bowl with the same fish you know. It is to jump out of that bowl into the ocean and start swimming with new fish and swim away from bigger fish who want to eat you.
I think the most discouraging thing about using Twitter has been that very few of the Obama campaign people have added me back. I work on the campaign as a Neighborhood Team Leader and I feel like for the most part, the fellows and staffers aren't very friendly or warm towards volunteers like myself and my co-team leader. We continue to do it because we want to help re-elect the President and we aren't stupid naive assholes who think the best thing to do is go outside and hold a neon poster board and yell about crap. But we do feel kinda shitty when it seems like it is a huge clique.
I've never been a fan of social interactions for this reason. People are unreliable. Strangers and friends alike. And everyone is out to get 'fans' these days. People have become the most narcissistic they have ever been. We are at a height of personal-delusion in today's world. I think that thanks to the useless Kim Kardashian's of the world, we have non-famous people running around acting like people care about their lives and their trivial pursuits. I really think that half of society needs a reality check. I blame MTV. I know I sound like an old fart but I do. It's things like Jersey Shore that have ninteen year old girls wasting their lives on websites like Model Mayhem (where everyone is a god damn model, no matter how fucking ugly or fat or short you are...). People think they can get rich and that being famous is the best way to do that. I think this is probably the most depressing realization I'll ever come to but I think society as a whole stopped intellectually developing sometime in the seventies.
I really think sometimes that I'd rather live on an island away from everyone and everything. If I could just block out 99% of the world, I'd be super happy. I don't give a shit about more than half of the things most people get so passionate about-- reality tv, shopping, having sex with as many partners as humanly possible within a year,Justin Bieber. Please. I just want to get my brain plugged straight into Nina Totenburg. I'm at a loss. I know I'm a dying breed here. I'm not winning this fight. Damn it.