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Don’t get mad…just find something else to do rather than keeping up with other people. Keeping up with other people no matter how beautiful, talented or controversial is so….shall I say yesterday’s thing. I’m at a point where if you aren’t in my physical life I’m not going out of my way to look at you or know anything about you.
I saw an article that said the most anxious feeling people are the “checkers” — people that are constantly flipping through apps and social media checking stuff. When I think of my own behavior, that’s true for me too…I was usually less happy when I’m doing that for extended periods of time.
Over the next decade or two I think we will see many more studies that negatively portray the immersion of ourselves in a digital world.
I think parents shouldn’t allow their kids to have smartphones until 18+ — people in the real world have gasped like I’m a mad man when I say that.
People who post on social media almost every day and multiple times a day....
There are people whose situations have drastically changed and are less able to be as mobile or as social as they once were for whatever reason. Some people like myself have plans and are taking action in order to rectify that situation in the future. For example, I have been here since late 2009 off and on but in the last couple of years my situation drastically changed so I am on here more often. That does not mean it will always be the case, as I'm sure some posters will be thrilled to hear!
Some could be home bound and it is their only outlet for human contact/support system if one needs/ craves it
Some just enjoy bragging
Actually, the people I know who post constantly tend to be the busiest people; they have jobs, families, activities, hobbies, and an active social life. They just feel compelled to document every minute of it for public consumption. I'd say the "lonely onlies" are more likely to spend their time on discussion forums -- like this one.
It's very interesting that many of you don't view C-D as a form of social media. A lot of this boils down to generational differences.
To ME, CD IS social media. I'm here being social, wanting to be involved in conversations, and expressing my thoughts on whatever.
To ME Facebook is about MY house...and people visiting MY house, and me visiting other people's house. I don't talk about politics or religion on Facebook, because I want people to visit my house, and I want to visit everyone else's house. I try to be a respectful guest, and I want others to be the same at "my house".
But a forum...by it's nature, people are not always going to agree, and the anonymous nature of a forum means people are going to be more "in your face" with their thoughts and feelings.
Perhaps social media is a misnomer since it tends to be all about me-me-me, but nonetheless there are qualitative differences between FB/IG, on which your identity is front and center, and Reddit/C-D, on which you remain invisible and anonymous...
I don't really get people who say statements like "If you don't know someone in person, they can't really be your friends." Or people will say "an online romantic relationship can't really be a romantic relationship."
When I read those kind of things I always think "Well, OF COURSE you can be friends with people you haven't met in real life." SURE, it's different...but it doesn't mean one doesn't develop a bond with that person. I have a FB friend who I've never met in person. We got to be friends over the game Farmville. Started off just admiring each other's farms. LOL But the friendship evolved and grew, and we chat back and forth, see each other's pictures, empathize with each other over our pets, families, etc. I admire her a lot, and we have a lot in common.
Just because we aren't sitting across from each other drinking a cup of coffee doesn't mean we aren't friends.
I don't really get people who say statements like "If you don't know someone in person, they can't really be your friends." Or people will say "an online romantic relationship can't really be a romantic relationship."
When I read those kind of things I always think "Well, OF COURSE you can be friends with people you haven't met in real life." SURE, it's different...but it doesn't mean one doesn't develop a bond with that person. I have a FB friend who I've never met in person. We got to be friends over the game Farmville. Started off just admiring each other's farms. LOL But the friendship evolved and grew, and we chat back and forth, see each other's pictures, empathize with each other over our pets, families, etc. I admire her a lot, and we have a lot in common.
Just because we aren't sitting across from each other drinking a cup of coffee doesn't mean we aren't friends.
Oh, I agree. I was involved with online groups for fans of this one band for years. Started out as one of the old bulletin board type forums sites, coupled with a "guest book" on the singer's personal website back in the late 90s/early 2000s. Then Myspace, and the group there. Then Facebook.
What was really cool, is that we ended up, lots of us, meeting in person. So it started online, but it crossed those lines over the years. I would travel to see concerts when the band toured, and announce it in the groups and ask who was gonna be at this or that show, have friends to connect with when we got there. We'd go to festivals and hundreds of us would meet up and hang out. When I say I've got friends from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Wales, and so on...I've met them. In person.
But we formed the foundations of our friendships online, first. We also had the ability to buy and sell and trade memorabilia, and do fundraising to support people in need in the groups. I auctioned off a drawing by one of the band members that I'd acquired over the years, to help a friend whose housing was at risk. And my Mom was in a bad situation once and needed help moving her stuff kinda last minute in another state (I lived in WA, she lived in FL then) and I put out the call and two guys from that fan group that I'd only met once in person, showed up to help her. I sent them gas money through Paypal.
Like we have come a long way from the notion that "internet people" are not real humans.
Sometimes, as when I see some implication that "anonymous" is best (why?) I wonder if that is a desire to cling to that notion. That interaction with others online is just a game and you don't have to think of others as being real humans with feelings and thoughts? I've never approached it that way.
To ME Facebook is about MY house...and people visiting MY house, and me visiting other people's house. I don't talk about politics or religion on Facebook, because I want people to visit my house, and I want to visit everyone else's house. I try to be a respectful guest, and I want others to be the same at "my house".
It's about perception. I remember when FB wasn't what it is today. I still see FB as I've always seen it even though it has changed. But I don't go around telling people not to use it the way they want just because *I* view the platform differently that they do. I just adjust my behavior as it pertains to that particular platform...because that's what I have the power to do.
Other people are used to bullying folks who don't see the world the way they do, and that's slowly changing. That's why some people spend so much energy focusing on others. They know if things were more level, people wouldn't accept their bullying behavior. When you are used to people kowtowing to you because you have power over them, it's hard to adjust. You've gotten used to things a certain way and subconsciously believe it's your right, but it's only your right because you have the power to inflict pain. If things were equal, it probably wouldn't naturally be that way you've grown to think it should be.
Lots of people spend energy making others uncomfortable so they can maintain their comfort level. Imagine what could be done with that energy if used to find things they love. So again I ask: do these people really enjoy their lives? If you find what you love, you wouldn't worry so much about how others are spending their time.
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