Social media madness

As another year gets underway, I always take a second to think about my use of social media.

Or I strive to think about it. Or something.

Probably like many of you, I was one of the “first generation” users of Facebook, back when you had to have a college email to log in and it was just a picture and some basic stats. Those were the days, huh?

We all know what it’s become now. A barrage of political articles and opinions, memes, photos, hot takes on sports, etc.

It’s kind of a fucking mess, isn’t it? It’s not even useful as a stalking tool anymore, what with various privacy settings — if you’re smart — and the fact that most of the people you might think about stalking hardly post anything new ever anyway, or so I’m told.

Speaking of stalking, who knew Baby Boomers were such Level: Expert! at that shit?! That’s really what Facebook — and Instagram — has become for me. A place where my parents, aunts, uncles and randos can keep tabs on what I’m doing.

I mean, really…. I can’t be the only one who has relatives that never post on Instagram — EVER — yet they have viewed every.single.one. of my Instagram stories. What’s up with that?!

What they WILL post on Facebook though, without fail, are those “threats” that thankfully we ALL collectively ignore so no one is singled out. You know what I’m talking about:

“This is a TEST to see who my REAL friends are. I bet most of you will scroll past this, but my REAL friends will comment!”

Also the warnings that they’ve been hacked — aka, fallen victim to another scam. Also the “Like and share this if you agree!” And let’s not forget the ones who dig up old actual family photos, take photos of them and post them and tag you.

Maybe that’s only something I’ve had to deal with….

No, No, and NO THANK YOU!

Lest you think I’m picking on a certain generation, this is from my news feed this morning:

I guess what I’m getting at is that it seems our parents’ generation has basically taken over Facebook. I don’t think anyone younger than their mid-20s even touches that platform.

Which leads us to explore other avenues of expression… like Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.

As I’ve already alluded to though, Instagram isn’t such a safe space anymore either, what with the Instagram story stalking. It’s also just not what it used to be since Instagram stories have taken over, and people now feel the need to post novel-esque notes when they want to get a point across.

Where it’s at these days, if you ask me, is Twitter and Snapchat.

I’m always behind my peers when it comes to joining some of the newer, “hip” platforms, with the exception of being on Facebook early on. I just joined Snapchat last year, and I joined Twitter long after live tweeting was a thing… but that doesn’t stop me from doing it.

There’s probably a platform right now I’m not even aware of that’s the new thing… and I won’t even register it until like two years from now.

It’s already out of control as it is! I swore I would never join Snapchat… but then one day I just gave in. The temptation to turn myself into a cute dog or a rabbit was just too strong.

I do really like that everything disappears in a day, though! Or sooner if I get on after a night out drinking and realize no one wants to see me “dancing” and singing off key to Ariana Grande.

What’s REALLY annoying (and by that I mean, ME) though is that my boyfriend is not on Snapchat, but I save any snap I want him to see and just text it to him directly. I mean, if he thinks I’m cute NOW, wait until he sees me as a rabbit with a squeaky voice!

I’m not sure why we’re still together.

Twitter is honestly probably my fav. So much so that I have TWO accounts. One for more professional purposes (boring af) that’s linked to my job, and the other for this blog.

Obviously, despite some of my reservations, I’m clearly not anti-social media. I think it has toxic qualities for sure, but I’m not one to shun it or get up on too high of a horse.

I mean…..

*Also taken from my Facebook feed today.*

Just sayin. Ya know, you do you, live and let live and all that! I’ve been on the receiving end of judgment and drama regarding social media posts. I’d like to think it’s made me more conscious of what and when I’m choosing to post and share… but it really just depends on what mood I’m in.