Written by Lauren Berger for The Talent Buzz blog post contest.
Over the course of the past week, I have read the following articles on social media:
- “Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism” by Christine Rosen
- “Facebook, MySpace, and Social (Media) Diseases” by Robert X. Cringely
- “How Twitter Can be Corrosive to Online Marketing” by Aaron Wall
- “Facebook Entry Gets Office Worker Fired” by Chris Matyszczyk
The list of social media-bashing articles goes on… the darling of the geek chic set is being hit. It’s being hit by psychologists, parents, teachers, even the very bloggers that utilize the technology as they vent. The honeymoon had to end sometime, but I am never one to sit idly by and allow the things I love to be maligned. Facebook, I am in your corner – because you make me better.
I Stay Informed
The articles I mentioned above? I found them on Twitter. I also heard that Ed McMahon is in the hospital from @CNN, that Jason Brown has signed with the St. Louis Rams from @STLToday and George Lucas is going to produce a new film on Digg.com. I can have a water-cooler conversation about the economy, I can even tell you about the twice-convicted rapist that won a benefit lottery for “Standing Together Against Rape” – and I can find all of this information in less than five minutes, thanks to social media.
I Keep It Brief
I’m a writer – a lover of words. Brevity is not usually my thing. Thanks to Twitter, I now have a reason to keep the thoughts I share with the world to a minimum. A minimum of 140 characters, to be exact.
I Express Myself (Without Alienating Anyone In The Process)
Have you ever met that person, the one that constantly spews strange happenings and weird facts at you for no apparent reason? I used to be that person. Now, with the advent of blogging, I have an outlet in which to broadcast my inane thoughts to the world. I get type it up, post it and then… I can be done with it. People in my circle (or the few strangers that look at my stuff) can choose to read what I post or click on if it doesn’t appeal to them. I am sure my friends and family are grateful. I am just happy to avoid being on the receiving end of slack-jawed stares when I excitedly burst forth with a gem like, “The dot over a lowercase ‘i’ is called a tittle!” Catharsis, thy name is blog.
I Collaborate
I’ve been sitting on TweetDeck for the past hour or so and in that time, I have Retweeted two individuals. I have also responded to a request for PR assistance and posted a few facts of my own. On #followfriday, I help people build their networks. On Facebook, I pass along upcoming events and articles my friends have posted. I recommend local musicians on MySpace and cheerlead for local organizations on my blog. You see, social media is about collaboration, the sharing of an experience, an idea or a passion. This cycle of connection and perpetuation is beautiful.
I Expand My Social Circles (And Meet Some Really Amazing People)
I am a stalker. No, that wasn’t me outside your bedroom window last night. But if you are doing something I believe in, I have probably taken a few passes at your Facebook profile. I tell myself I do this in order to stay abreast of what people are up to and see how I can improve what I am doing. I REALLY do this in the hope that I will someday be able to come into contact with the people I admire. I have no fear of replying to someone’s post on Twitter, or friending someone I would like to know and starting a dialogue. I can make connections happen and have talked to, debated with and actually met some amazing people in the process. Just don’t tell anyone my secret. I would hate to have to stake out your Twitter page.
I Have More Time To Do The Things I Love
Last but not least, social media allows me more time. Like I said, I can find my news in a flash. I can catch up with my friends easily. I can create business opportunities for myself with the mere click of a button. I can learn new strategies for anything I am interested in, from those that are in the know. I am less stressed, I smile more and I certainly have more time. Granted, I am probably using that extra time to play around with my Twitter account, but that is neither here nor there.
I know that social media has its dark and ugly side. I have the carpal tunnel syndrome and pasty pale skin to prove it. But anything that can bring about such a revolution in the way the world views and disseminates information can’t be all bad. Critics, take note: social media is here to stay. And your public is that much smarter, savvier and connected because of it.
Great post. I totally agree with all of what you said. Love how twitter makes it so easy to find people with similar interests no matter how high/low profile they are.
nicely said. I may rt your quote – “Catharsis, thy name is blog.”
P.S. for bonus points, tell me whether the dot above the j and below the question mark “?” or other non-English language diacritical marks are also called a tittle, or do they have other names? : )
Excellent points. I happen to be old enough to remember when telephone party lines were high tech. Our neighbors could listen in on our personal phone calls without our knowledge or consent. Now that was corrosive! I also remember having my car break down on a rural highway before cell phones were invented. I had to trust strangers to give me a ride all the while praying they weren’t rapists or serial killers. I also used to have to send photos to family and friends by snail mail, look up something I wanted to know in a dated encyclopedia or go to the library and search a card index, and write a letter to a distant loved one because ‘long distance’ was too expensive. Modern technology puts friends, loved ones, new people, the world, and information at our immediate disposal. Social media keeps us connected, informed, expanded and available in ways that we could never have imagined in the past. We are all at choice about what information we share about ourselves and the avenues we choose for that sharing. There have always been those who seek to harm or defraud others in whatever way possible. Technology didn’t create dishonesty or lack of ethics. Social Media is an avenue. How we choose to drive down that avenue is on us individually.
The dot over a j is called a tittle, but the dot under a question mark is actually a period – just another way to denote the end of a sentence. I have to admit, I am not sure about non-English usage.
I love being networked with family I don’t see on a regular basis, friends that are now thousands of miles away, and most importantly, nieces, nephews, grands and great grands that I am just beginning to know. Having lost all but one of my siblings, this is a gift from God…to be able to somehow still feel connected to my siblings through their off-spring. So, I guess I am selfishly relying on Facebook to keep my family in tact!
I love what you’ve written, Lauren.
I’m from Cindy’s generation (or older). Used manual typewriters in my first two jobs in New York City, ran the office switchboard on occasion when the operator was gone, and went a month or more at college without making or receiving a phone call. Owned one of the first 1000 Macintosh computers and one of the first 100 laser printers ever made.
I’ve Twittered, IM’d, MySpaced and Buzzed. Here’s what floors me: Social networking, as practiced by my children, seems to consist to friends gathering in the same wireless-networked room, staring at their laptop screens and sipping coffee, typing away and rarely if ever speaking a word to each other. That is, they prefer the less-nuanced forms of communication to the nuanced, where body language, facial expression, tone of voice and inflections, add so much to the content of conversation.
I’ve come to terms with this by concluding that social network is all about managing risk. That face-to-face, real conversation, without edits or delete keys, is simply too risky when their are substitutes that let you consciously adjust your mood, manner, and methods to the moment.
I have also seen the downside of this in the workplace. Some, but not all young people (but a higher percentage of heavy-duty social-networkers) are intensely afraid of contributing in meetings. They want the control that comes with receiving input, gauging its significance and originator, and making a well-thought-out decision about how to respond. That is very frustrating for the rest of us, when we know there are good ideas and analytical skills locked up in those younger minds.
Lauren I love your writing and find it impossible to not implore you to realize its full potential… its fun, you have talent, and you have the passion. I have known you for three years… you are even more impressive now than ever…. don’t miss your calling and ;ook back in 20 years and say “darn… I should have written that novel or book”! You even spell correctly for Lord’s sake…*smile*… Will
Wonderful ! I am without words. (<– except those.)
A nice counterpoint. The articles you quoted also offer some great insight. In the end, it’s the back and forth push that will help define what works and doesn’t, what has value and doesn’t. Those articles and your response actually highlight the greatest potential of social media – the ability to involve the world in the evolution of what we, as a global society, deem valuable. It’s the inclusivity of the conversation that offers such amazing potential, even when it highlights the concerns of critics.