Welcome To Social Media

I'm a Millennial, I should know this stuff right?

Ah Social Media, the greatest necessity and bane of this generation's existence. If you don't believe me check out my post from last week about self marketing or just continue reading this post.

Let's navigate this together! (No I'm not being serious)

I recently got a Twitter account. Yeah, it's basically Facebook statuses, but you can find out what famous people are thinking without actually being their friend. JK Rowling is a well known Twitter user. I got it as a way to continue "self advertising" for my online writing.*

Social media has managed to connect people and keep them connected in a way that wasn't possible twenty years ago. One can argue that the Internet Is the real power house behind this connection, but Social Media has definitely taken it to the next level. Let's see we have the all powerful Facebook, the apparent news source that is Twitter (seriously has no one else seen Yahoo's sources lately?), Instagram and Pinterest rule photo sharing of all things IKEA related, and of course LinkedIn is the current gateway to getting a resume out the door (at least that's what I kept hearing from my college career center). Oh and let's not forget YouTube (sorry Vimeo you just aren't as well known), the site that's managed to make more insta-celebraties than any other (except perhaps 4chan, but that's a different conspiracy).

There are of course even more to choose from for different purposes, like Tumblr, Snap Chat, and Tinder. All of which connect people around the world to share information, events, and crazy cat videos. To meet a person in the US between the ages of 10 and 39 who hasn't heard or is a member of at least one of these sites is rare, like meeting an extraterrestrial rare. It's statistically possible, but highly unlikely.

So isn't Social Media a force of good for this generations? Like all things in this universe, social media is both good and bad (like eating a box of chocolates, your soul wants it, but the body will hate you for it later).

Social Media gives everyone a platform. People whom agree with each other, disagree with each other, and the people who have no idea what's going on but want to be included anyway. It has also created a culture where we can share everything.

Yep, everything.

We all know that one person who has to share everything. Heck some of my readers might think I'm one of these people (which I might be, but I digress). Its not necessarily bad and can easily be ignored, like ads on Facebook. But recently there have been more and more news stories about how people get in to trouble on these sites.

There was the recent scandal about the girl on Instagram saying how her life presented on the site is a total lie. There's always some story about high school kids posting something stupid and getting detention for it. Or how about the teacher who was recently hired because of her double life on Instagram (I'm sensing a pattern). Also quoting Twitter is seen as news. Am I the only one who thinks this will eventually lead to a spectacularly hilarious scandal at some point? Something along the lines of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Anyone else?

Navigating all the Dos and Don'ts of Social Media should be simple. If you wouldn't put it on your high school bulletin board, don't put it online. See simple. Yet we still have people known as trolls (mean spirited/mischievous people looking for a fight), the person who doesn't understand that yes the police can read your status if you make the illegal activity you did a public post, and the person who tells their boss they are sick and then post that they are actually at the beach playing hooky (seriously don't do this).

So what's the future of social media? Will we one day all pretty much live in the digital world and let our real bodies deteriorate into nothing? I hope not. Reality is still too interesting for me to spend all of my time on the Internet. Still, the possibility is there. Until then I'll keep making sure I don't post anything too embarrassing.

If you enjoyed this post or it really pissed you off, pleas like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Now to finish watching that silly sports game most Americans are currently tuned in to. Honestly I'm just watching for the commercials. Until next week.

* This blog will not be included because [insert reason here].