Anti - Social Media

I'm not usually ambivalent. I generally know what I think. But in this instance I'm not sure. I joined Facebook because I hoped to get in touch with some friends I had lost touch with, who didn't know David, my husband had died. It didn't work. Probably because I'm not sure I really understand Facebook. I also joined Twitter, but that's even more of a mystery to me. I can't see the point of it, so I unjoined.

Then I started to Blog, because I found it theraputic. Now I'm hooked & don't much care if anyone reads me or not. What I don't get is where all these people who could possibly be my friend, even though I have never heard of them, come from. The list grows exponentially & I don't seem to be able to get rid of it. It all seems so superficial & pointless. Who wants hundreds of friends they don't know apart from some sad loser?

What I really don't get is why anyone would imagine that other people would be interested in the boring minutii of their lives. It seems bizarre to me - along the lines of verbal diarrhoea. There seems to be a general need to let the world know what you are doing & where you are, all the time, however mundane & uninteresting that information is.

Texting & speaking on mobiles is bad enough. Listening to other people's mobile conversations is rarely edifying.  For some reason there seems to be a general acceptance that the person on the other end of the phone is deaf or stupid - or both. I'm always amazed at the length of some of these fairly mindless conversations. People can't be that hard up if they can pay their phone bills.

On the other hand Social Media has become a valuable communication tool, often taking the place of journalists in areas of conflict. We can be informed what is going on all over the world as events play out. That must be a powerful way of stopping criminal regimes from getting away with despicable acts. People can be warned of danger or mustered to act in concert against evil. If the world is constantly under the microscope of mobile camera phones it is hard to get away with anything. That must be good. The corollary to that is the use of networks during the riots in the UK a couple of years ago. Seemingly, as with most things, there is a positive and a negative.

I, however, don't want to be instantly available to anyone who has my number. So I rarely switch my phone on. I get very irritated with banks etc who send me activation codes for internet transactions via my mobile. Especially as I have no reception at home.

If I were involved in an accident I could instantly have a photographic record. If I were ill or in any sort of trouble, or saw someone else who was, I could do something about it. On the whole I tend to think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. But I could be persuaded otherwise.

In fact it's all irrelevant anyway. Technology & Social Media is here to stay. I still prefer a face to face, old fashioned, conversation. You can pick up body language & facial expression & just give someone a word of encouragement or a hug. Smiley's in an email just don't do it for me. I just hope we don't get to the stage where we all just have an implanted communication micro chip.