I call it cyber crack, the social media that I currently use, because it is addicting.
When I first started using Myspace it was to keep an eye on my then minor children. I monitored what they posted, if they had too much identifying information on their page, who they had as ‘friends’ and if they were keeping their profiles set private to the outside world. I quickly found it addicting as I found friends of my own, and family members, to add to my buddy list. I also enjoyed being able to ‘bling’ my space on the web and make it a bit more unique.
Then came Facebook. I was a hold out for sometime as I found it less than user friendly compared to Myspace. I started my Facebook but drifted away for a few months until someone made a comment about how much they enjoyed my son’s status posts on his Facebook. I decided that I needed to learn the ropes and got back on. Now I’m addicted to it as well. It is like a continuous feed newsletter of friends and family, and I’ve reconnected with old friends and neighbors from high school! WOW no one has aged at all! (yeah, right lol) Little by little I find new connections with former coworkers and even distant cousins I haven’t seen in years. I enjoy the banter back and forth on someone’s wall when comments are posted to status updates and seeing the latest photos of everyone’s adventures and family. And of course there are the games I’ve been lured into playing like Mafia Wars and YoVille, the latest of which is Farmville. I have family members to thank for those because someone needed more mafia members or neighbors and next thing I know I am harvesting crops, buying houses and knocking of rival mafia members.
Twitter was the next cyber addiction. I was listening to talk radio and the hosts of the Eddie and Tracy show on 700 WLW were talking about it. Anything Tracy Jones knocks and Eddie Fingers finds amusing usually turns out to be something of interest, so I checked it out. I actually enjoy Twitter a lot more than I first thought I would. Looking at it the tool made little sense to me, it’s purpose being to answer the question “what are you doing” in 140 characters or less. But I set up my Twitter account and began searching for others to follow. My sister tried it at my urging, and next thing I knew my mom was tweeting too. I’ve come to find it rather useful for following quick headlines in the news, links to interesting blogs or ads for great bargains at the stores, and sport scores. Sometimes it is bits of inspiration or humor, you just never know with Twitter. Sometimes it even becomes a little social network with folks who follow answering tweets back and forth, though that can be confusing if you are not following all parties involved. A really good tweeter will incorporate the information into their tweet for their other followers. One day I tweeted my adventure of taking my dad shopping and on his errands, complete with pics uploaded for the enjoyment of my followers. Those that really found the humor, of course, were those that know my dad. I find Twitter to be especially fun for keeping up with family, since several family members are using it now. I get family/friend tweets to my cell phone, all others I read online.
In this face paced life with all of us going in so many directions at once, I enjoy the social media for allowing me to keep up to the minute with friends and family. Critics say it is all rather impersonal but generally I find those to be the people that have never given the forms of social media a fair try. Connections with the right friends and family members bring it all to life and make it very enjoyable for the user. While nothing takes the place of in person contact, this does fill the gap nicely until we can all come together again to share laughs around the table or fire pit.
What are your cyber addictions?
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