Oh, hello! I think a wee dram of port is in order tonight.
Facebook? My Space? Twitter? Instant messaging? Is this really the way of the world? I joined MySpace about 2 years ago as a lark. I heard it was all the rage. Um, yeah, if you are a horny high school kid! I think I lasted about 6 months on that and then deleted my account because I felt so icky.
Next came Facebook. I joined that about a year ago. It seems to be a little better. I was able to connect with some people from high school. Although, now that I think of it, if I wanted to still be friends with the people I went to high school with, I probably would be. I have a feeling that most of them would probably feel the same way. I can see what people I work with are doing. But, again, do I really want to do that, either? I used FB quite regularly for a while, but then got bored with it. I know there are games that people love – bejeweled and mafia wars. One coworker has set up a bot at his house that keeps playing for him while he is at work. Really? Yikes. Now, I check in maybe once a week.
Twitter is one of the most addictive time sucks I have every come across. I joined Twitter in February of this year just to see what it was about. Like this blog, I started out slow. Then I got a few followers who seemed cool and now I’m addicted. I have “met” a whole community of people who are very similar to me. Whereas I often feel out of place around my job or family due to my snark and dry sense of humor, these folks take me as I am, and love me for it. One blessed, kind, sweet sole – who I won’t name our of respect for her privacy – has even offered to help me out of a recent financial situation. We have NEVER EVEN MET but she trusts me enough to be so selfless and generous. I declined her offer, but only because I find it so difficult to ask for and receive help. (That is a whole other blog post!)
Anyhoo. These three applications are called social media. But how, exactly, is this social? Sitting at a computer, chatting with people who may or may not be who they say they are. I don’t even have my real picture on Twitter. Or here. (That’s mostly because I HATE HATE HATE having my picture taken. I can fool myself in the mirror into thinking that I’m not as heavy as I am, but the camera doesn’t lie.) Honestly, I do try to be as much myself as possible, but I can’t say that about everyone.
I don’t know what the point of all this is. I guess that while I don’t quite get the “social” part of this, I am glad that I have the followers I have on Twitter. I believe them to be kind, real, friendly, and very supportive. I don’t believe there is any hidden agenda with any of the people I follow. It’s relaxing to me to be able to be myself. To be able to let my guard down because keeping it up all the time? EXHAUSTING!!
MagAndMoo's Blog 
Mo
My husband alternates between being supportive and annoyed at the time I spend online. He’s proud of my blog, and happy I’m making an effort to write regularly, but I think he gets annoyed because he just sees the back of my head as I’m bent over my laptop or Blackberry while I write, update my Facebook and chat on Twitter. It’s easy to get sucked into all of those medias and forget that “real life” exists, but at the same time, a lot of positive things have come out of it too. I’ve “met” a ton of funny, smart and totally snarky people online, and I’ve been able to reconnect with people from high school and grammar school that I really am grateful for having back in my life.
I guess it’s all about balance. I’m still working on that one!
debra
I know exactly what you’re talking about. If I actually sat down and figured out how much time I spend online, I would probably faint from the exhaustion of all that “carry the one” nonsense. Truly a time suck. But, isn’t it wonderful? I wouldn’t have met you otherwise and that? Does not suck at all! 🙂