My biggest question is, “Do we hide behind social media?” More and more I am seeing people make major, personal announcements via Facebook or Twitter. These people tell their followers, friends, and network something personal that they otherwise may not. Is it because we aren’t telling someone to their face, seeing and hearing their reaction, that makes social media sites the platform of choice? Is it easier to tell everyone at once instead of informing people one at a time? There are multiple reasons why people choose social media sites as their channel of choice to share such personal information, but is it always the best option?
There are certain situations and facts that require face-to-face or telephone communication. Sometimes Facebook and Twitter are not the correct avenues to share information. For example, Twitter only allows for 140 characters making it difficult for a user to share personal and important news in a short text. Facebook is more user friendly with its character spaces, but a post may be misinterpreted by others. At times it can be a challenge to correctly portray an emotion through Facebook or Twitter. One common theme I am noticing is engagement announcements. People are posting or updating their statuses to show they are engaged before informing their immediate friends and family. Certain friends and family may not be in your network on the social media sites in which you make the announcement or your status update may not show up in their news feed, leaving them clueless. They may not find out for weeks! Are we losing the intimacy of our relationships so much that people feel it is not important to inform those closest to them?
Social media sites are a popular and effective way to reach the masses but every once in awhile we should stop and ask ourselves if the situation is appropriate to share with everyone at once or if we should inform certain people first, either face-to-face or through telephone, before announcing the message for all to see.
I'd say it's not so much just hiding as it is behaving in ways the person normally would not. Social media encourages someone to be brash. Its takes the severity out of everything, like engagements, pregnancy, marriage, and death. By posting it on a social media site it downplays the importance or significance and so there is a feeling of less pressure on the poster as well as less responsibility. Hiding and acting out at the same time would be diagnosis. They want affirmation from their cohorts and so they take the fastest route in order to make themselves feel better about their choice.
ReplyDeleteI assume this if for a class so I figured I'd throw you a bone and give you some feedback.
Thanks R.J.! This blog is actually not for a class. It is used to be but once the class ended I just decided to keep it going because it actually gets a lot of hits. I think you are correct in your statement about downplaying the significance and importance. Good point!
ReplyDeletepeople hide behind their smart phones during awkward times
ReplyDeleteThere's also a good True Life on MTV about people who live primarily on social networking sites including the second-life game.
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