Entry tags:
The Art of Self Censorship - Or How I Stopped Killing Myself With Social Media
The brain has a hard time filtering out the bits of information it requires and the bits of information that would be better suited on a waste disposal heap. Scientists have yet to invent a brain button that when switched on can allow us to pay attention to the useful data and avoid the worthless and sometimes harmful information that is directed at us each and every day. This is why I have a hard time with social media.
The bombardment of other people's lives, success's, opinions, comments and rants all culminated in one place is just too much. This is not to say that I have not dipped my toe in social media, I would be a hypocrite to condemn and yet not mention how I have a whole foot submerged in its ever widening pool. It's a Catch 22 situation. I can't deny how effective it can be as a tool. When used correctly it can be harnessed to promote messages of hope or of charity; a place for people to come together and share thoughts on particular subjects and allow for discussion on important and sometimes even unimportant matters. The problem is that with all tools, when not handled the correct way can be used for destruction as opposed to creation. Misinformation can spread like wildfire, things can be interpreted incorrectly to devastating effect, people can openly post their prejudices and ignorance and have it 'liked'. It also becomes a place of competition. How many pictures of a recent holiday can be uploaded or how many status updates about how wonderful their new job is can we tolerate? Or alternatively, those passive aggressive posts about an unnamed person that did something but you don't want to say what because 'they know who they are' or another attention grabbing headline that begs for credibility based solely upon the number of likes and comments it obtains. It can seem somewhat insensitive by saying this but social media breeds shallow behaviour. It's all well and fine keeping friends and family updated with one or two messages or photos about a particular event or something that may have happened; but it becomes too much when it turns into a 5000 word essay on how Heather from HR used your onion relish at work this lunch-time or you feel the need to post 63 pictures of your new car each tagged with the entirety of your friends list just in case one of them missed it. Maybe it's for lack of new cars or onion relish but I can't participate in that forum anymore. Until they can invent a self-censor button that prevents people from oversharing or from passively aggressively trying to communicate a message via cryptic updates I will not dip my proverbial toe in there again.
The bombardment of other people's lives, success's, opinions, comments and rants all culminated in one place is just too much. This is not to say that I have not dipped my toe in social media, I would be a hypocrite to condemn and yet not mention how I have a whole foot submerged in its ever widening pool. It's a Catch 22 situation. I can't deny how effective it can be as a tool. When used correctly it can be harnessed to promote messages of hope or of charity; a place for people to come together and share thoughts on particular subjects and allow for discussion on important and sometimes even unimportant matters. The problem is that with all tools, when not handled the correct way can be used for destruction as opposed to creation. Misinformation can spread like wildfire, things can be interpreted incorrectly to devastating effect, people can openly post their prejudices and ignorance and have it 'liked'. It also becomes a place of competition. How many pictures of a recent holiday can be uploaded or how many status updates about how wonderful their new job is can we tolerate? Or alternatively, those passive aggressive posts about an unnamed person that did something but you don't want to say what because 'they know who they are' or another attention grabbing headline that begs for credibility based solely upon the number of likes and comments it obtains. It can seem somewhat insensitive by saying this but social media breeds shallow behaviour. It's all well and fine keeping friends and family updated with one or two messages or photos about a particular event or something that may have happened; but it becomes too much when it turns into a 5000 word essay on how Heather from HR used your onion relish at work this lunch-time or you feel the need to post 63 pictures of your new car each tagged with the entirety of your friends list just in case one of them missed it. Maybe it's for lack of new cars or onion relish but I can't participate in that forum anymore. Until they can invent a self-censor button that prevents people from oversharing or from passively aggressively trying to communicate a message via cryptic updates I will not dip my proverbial toe in there again.