No, In Fact I Don't Like Social Media
Well, the title really says it all: I don’t like social media. The reasons, though, need some explanation.
I believe that social interaction and the sharing of ideas is an important part of life and, particularly, of learning. Engaging in thoughtful, thought-provoking conversations allows us to to explore more fully our own thinking, to consider the thoughts of others, and find in the mix a fuller, more well-developed sense of the world around us. For many years — perhaps hundreds — sitting with friends and debating the issues of the day was a common means of passing the time. Conversations no doubt got heated at times, and I’m sure more than few feelings got hurt. But, at the end of the day, they remained friends and may have developed a deeper appreciation for the knowledge and thoughts each held. And this, I think, is what the vision of social media started out to be.
But it hasn’t really worked out that way. At least not in my view. To be effective, such interaction needs to be local, personal and immediate. The image of a group of old men sitting around the potbelly stove in the general store on a cold, rainy day debating the issues of the day says a lot. They are friends who live and work in the same area and may well have grown up there. They may share many experiences. They may work in the same or closely allied fields. There’s history there that helps to put context to what is said. Joe knows that Sam is going to argue with him just for the sake of argument, regardless of what Sam might really believe. That shared existence and history provides a lens for understanding each other and the interactions between them. This doesn’t exist in the world of social media. There is no shared history, no ‘back story’ to the interactions between participants. There are only the words on the page.
Those guys sitting around that stove also know that they are part of the social fabric of the community and, as such, aren’t likely to attack each other. The same can’t be said for on-line social media.
Social media is everywhere. You can’t watch TV without seeing the scroller run across the bottom of the screen showing you what others are saying on Twitter about the show. Watch the local news and you’ll be asked to “tell us what you think…” But, is this even necessary? Does what you think about a new story alter its value? Does the short, often emotional responses hastily written on these kinds of boards add value to the story? Not in my view.
There is almost an expectation that you participate in Facebook, Instragram, Pinterest, and the host of similar sites. If you’re not, people look at you as if you’ve some kind of pox. The very notion that I am expected to participate is unacceptable to me because the act of participating is seen as granting permission to attack me, to disparage my thoughts simply because they differ from yours. There is no respect for the thoughts of others and, perhaps most distressing is the simple reality that much of what passes as “social interaction” is little more than the constant parroting of ideas that are not original to the writer and which have not been truly considered for their veracity by the writer. In other words, ‘social’ media is not social at all, in my view; it’s just a forum for ill-informed bullies to continue their bullying without fear of reprisal.
So, I avoid social media as much as I can. And that is why I don’t permit comments here. While I enjoy engaging in honest, thoughtful conversations, I find that such conversations just don’t exist on line. If you don’t like what I write, don’t read it. That is your choice. And it is my choice not to give others a forum for lambasting me for thinking about things differently than they do.