Image via CrunchBase
I like antisocial media. I use it quite a lot – between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google Plus I probably get into double digits when it comes to the number of times I check social media sites. And I probably enjoy reading people’s posts, seeing their photos, laughing at videos and thinking about blog posts far more than I let on, because I’m really not very good at publicly ‘liking’ them.
But that’s what annoys me most about other people! I take the time to write a witty, clever observation in 140 characters, and how many retweets/favourites/likes/thumbs up do I get? None! This leads me to two potential conclusions:
- It wasn’t that witty or clever; people just didn’t like it that much.
- People did like it, but it would have taken a moment to have pressed like or whatever, so they didn’t.
Now, ignoring the fact that I’m almost certainly not as witty or clever as I think I am, I’m going to lean towards the second conclusion because that’s how I use social media; Facebook and everything else is all about me! It’s not about me liking other people’s work, it’s about me putting a fun picture up there, and everyone else thinking, ‘Wow, Sam’s definitely both clever and witty.’
I’m part of an online community of bloggers, and there’s a reasonable proportion of the community who log on, post a link to their blog, and don’t even bother to look at other people’s stuff (as far as anyone can tell). They’re known as post-and-runners, and they’re annoying.
I wonder, would social media be a nicer place if we all publicly liked each other more?
This may be a tenuous verse to bring in, but I reckon it fits:
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)
Related articles
- A Week Without Social Media (kevmill.wordpress.com)
- Are We Losing Friendships Over Social Media? (blogher.com)
- Social media changes experience of being “snowed in” (denverpost.com)
- 10 Social Media Sins to Ditch for Your Valentine’s Day Date (liveconsciouslynow.com)
- Do you need to work on your social media etiquette? (immediatefuture.co.uk)
- Should social media classes be taught to kids? (worldradio.ch)
