We need more social interaction on social networking sites. It's nice to have someone "Like" a photo or status or whatever, but it's nicer to know why they liked it. Open up the doors of dialogue. If you liked something, explain why. You might just find that you like even more of the person than the fragment of their existence that you saw a glimpse of. We have these tools at our disposal to learn so much about each other but we limit it to a quick glance and a tap of a button. An added bonus to actually responding and leaving a comment is that it may just help you with your writing ability. It might also bring others into the conversation and allow you to discover new friends and ideas!
Sometimes a "like" is all you need if it's a close friend and the post is somewhat of an inside joke; or a lot of people use it when they get a bunch of birthday posts or congratulations or any mass post. These times I would say it's pretty acceptable to use the "like" button. But why not take it a step further? Why not take some time and write a little response? Is it because it takes too long? These people have taken the time to let you know that they're thinking about you, so maybe return the favor!
I also believe that meme's...or whatever they're called, may qualify for a simple "like." Once again, though, a little explanation opens up the waves of conversation. Maybe it was exactly what you needed to brighten your day, or maybe it pisses you off because it reminds you of something terrible in your life...a phone call may be the best if you'd like to explain that, or simply try to ignore it.
One thing you see a lot of on Facebook is people spilling their emotions or maybe dumping their trash as some posts so elegantly put it. Some people think or say how terrible this is and how people shouldn't do it, but when you think of it we're really in a different time right now. Unfortunately our face-to-face relationships are diminishing and our online or text relationships are growing. So when people depend on their online relationships for pick-me-ups, or advice, etc, they tend to use those same sites when they're down and out, depressed or whatever.
The sad thing is that with the ease of connecting with people this way we have become less and less conversational in the real world. Our "friendships" and offline relationships can't be handled with a simple hit of the "like" button, and so we tend to avoid more often and take less chances.
So although I feel like it is very important for us all to get out in the real world a little more often (hypocritical for a blogger I know) I think it's also important for us not to ignore these people who use social media to ask for help, and don't get confused, dumping our problems on Facebook, Twitter, etc., is a call for help. We have two choices here, as we do if a friend tells us their problems offline...you can help them or ignore them. These are the instances where a simple "like" isn't enough. Send them a message, or better yet, give them a call!
In 2012 Facebook averaged over 2.7 billion "like's" daily...daily!
There were 2.5 billion content items shared daily and over 300 million photo uploads.
That translates to roughly 3 "likes" per day and one photo every 3 days per user.
Facebook has allowed me personally to connect with individuals I probably never would have seen or heard from again. I can see what's going on in their lives and occasionally "like" the things that they post. But I'm going to try and do more. There's a video circulating right now about abandoning social media, and I love the idea behind it...but chances are it's not going to happen for a lot of us. Personally I use it too much for marketing and stalking so I couldn't give it up without another one of those restraining orders...
But if we're not going to give it up, let's just do a better job of using it and maybe use our phones more for talking to people rather than texting them. If you "like" something on Facebook, explain why! Let's see what we can do about putting the social back in social media...and let's put it back in the real world too.
Call your parents, your friends, that girl or guy you like or "like." Get out and meet new people and explore life, it's not going to be around forever and chances are you're not going to have a Skype funeral...
Now that I've lectured about "like"-ing and using technology, I'm going to confess...I wrote this whole blog on my phone. I did it partly out of spite of my own stupid opinions and partly because one of the guys who we would like to blog with us kept telling me he didn't have a computer to type on...well, challenge accepted and completed my friend!
If you "liked" this post...tell us why! The best part about when you comment on this blog, we can make it better! Hopefully our writing will get better as we go along here, but we're certainly open to suggestions and thoughts from you about how we're doing! If you have something you'd like us to tackle let us know that too! Hopefully we start hearing more and more from our readers, let's use this social media to it's fullest! You can also call...
No comments:
Post a Comment