Your relationship with social media

[JamesonCourage]

I'm told that younger folks don't use Facebook any more, except for its excellent event organising/inviting functions. It stopped being the place to be when everybody's parents joined! It's apparently seen as for old people.

That does make me wonder what everyone's age here, is (or at least the people who've posted answers). Personally, I'm 29.

(1) I have a Facebook that I check every couple of days, but I have an app installed to block tons of stuff (all linked videos, for example), and I probably only post something once per week; it's not very useful for me anymore. Then again, I'm very stingy with who I accept as friends (I don't accept requests even from people I've known for years unless I feel we're actually close), so maybe it was never that useful to begin with. But even now, I rarely see things I care about posted on it, even from friends (who are all almost my age, with the others being 2-3 years younger).

(2) I got Instagram a couple of months ago after my best friend in Portland (about an 11 hour drive from me) begged me to get it so I could see the stuff she posts; I do like seeing parts of her life, but I've only posted two images so far, so about one per month.

(3) I got Twitter a couple of days ago, because that same friend from Portland wanted me to be able to Periscope. So, now I have a Twitter account that I'll never use. Oddly enough, while I think Twitter is absolutely unnecessary for the general populace as a social media platform, I'm the most okay with it. Journalists have done amazing things with Twitter, and that might only get better with Periscope. But we'll see.

(4) I have a couple other accounts online, but not many. Here, and maybe 3-4 other hobby sites (so not counting things like my bank).

 

[Mallus]

Disclosure: I am an olds, ie 46.

My social media presence is limited to Facebook and two online gaming communities, ie one of them is here.

I don't do Twitter, Instagram, etc. I'll check Yelp, but don't contribute reviews. It's possible I've reviewed something on Amazon. Maybe.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, in other words?

I have found that adopting new technology and communication paths really annoys me... until I actually have a need for it. I don't early adopt just because a thing is new and shiny. I adopt because I need the darned thing.

Sorta!

I have no interest in the minutia of people's lives as seen on Twitter or Instagram.

IME, text messaging takes more time than analogous conversations. There are occasions when it is a better option, but for the most part, I find it inefficient and annoying as fuuu......nk. For the first several years I had text-message phone capable cellphones, I texted a total of 7 times. I even waited a few months to respond to a "Happy birthday!" text message...with "I don't text."

Facebook I find to be run unethically, and besides, there is nothing in my life I feel like announcing to what world.

I also have ethical and legal concerns about the way ISPs handle email, but that's a necessary evil, and my concerns will be addressed when certain cases are played out in court...

That does make me wonder what everyone's age here, is (or at least the people who've posted answers). Personally, I'm 29.

I'll be 48 in October.

 

[Morrus]

IME, text messaging takes more time than analogous conversations.

Oh it's so much quicker! You can text "Be there at 7.15" without 5 minutes' preamble of smalltalk. If you just want to convey info without surrounding it with a conversation, a text takes 2 seconds.

Plus there's no requirement o reply instantly. So you can shoot off a question and get a reply when the person has time rather than either interrupting whatever they're doing, or leaving a voicemail asking them to call you back and interrupt whatever you're doing.

 

[Janx]

I'm told that younger folks don't use Facebook any more, except for its excellent event organising/inviting functions. It stopped being the place to be when everybody's parents joined! It's apparently seen as for old people.

well, part of that is the age group FB was invented for (college students) and how that group has aged and how it reached the older and younger demographics. Teens used to whine about not being allowed on FB. Once FB let them in, they saw their parents were on it, and left.

As I've met a few devs who proudly tell me "they made a social media site", I roll my eyes as who hasn't written or could write a social media site. The general concept existed before FB (LinkedIn predates it for instance). So I take references to FB or non FB social media to really being the same bucket of Social Media. Folks who deviate from FB or just deviants, no different than folks who choose linux because Micro$oft $ux.

The key problem I have with Social Media is that it is a dangerous trap, and it's full of time-wasting crap people used to forward in emails.
posting your activity on FB basically tells people when it's a good time to rob you
it over-shares your personal life in ways that don't need to happen (I had a friend complain about her husband and their argument while he was out of town. I can't imagine that made resolving the argument easier now that he knows everybody knows)
it tends to leak stuff you didn't want your boss/work to know accidentally (FB changes their code and rules all the time, making accidents happen)
it leaves a trail of activity that you don't need others to see later (like that drunken party from 3 years ago)
it fosters spamming each other with shared links and news that foist political views and crap on each other (yet everybody claims they hate that crap, so who's actually sharing)

If I could truly trust it, and have a platform all my friends really are on (FB is where 90% of all social media users are. Deviant systems are niche cloisters which means I'd need different accounts for different groups), then social media unto itself is a handy tool for keeping touch and sharing stuff with actual friends.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Oh it's so much quicker! You can text "Be there at 7.15" without 5 minutes' preamble of smalltalk. If you just want to convey info without surrounding it with a conversation, a text takes 2 seconds.

It is rare that I have a message that short to convey. I'm a touch typist, and most people I know spend more time correcting their message's autocorrect than it would take to just talk to me. ESPECIALLY if they're in a car on a road with any kind of bumps.

Plus there's no requirement o reply instantly. So you can shoot off a question and get a reply when the person has time rather than either interrupting whatever they're doing, or leaving a voicemail asking them to call you back and interrupt whatever you're doing.

That IS a time saver...but I could do likewise with email.

 

[Morrus]

It is rare that I have a message that short to convey.

I'd suggest you may be an outlier. I very, very frequently send short "running late" or "meet at 8" messages which I don't have time to surround with a 10-minute conversation. Or I'll send my wife a question, knowing she's busy working and she'll shoot a quick answer back when she gets a moment.

Email works too, sure. It's just quicker, shorter email centered around mobile devices.

 

[Janx]

Oh it's so much quicker! You can text "Be there at 7.15" without 5 minutes' preamble of smalltalk. If you just want to convey info without surrounding it with a conversation, a text takes 2 seconds.

Plus there's no requirement o reply instantly. So you can shoot off a question and get a reply when the person has time rather than either interrupting whatever they're doing, or leaving a voicemail asking them to call you back and interrupt whatever you're doing.

If it was something as simple as "we're on our way" then yes, a txt to a friend who is expecting you to come over is efficient.

I get questions like "Where's the Report object in the .EDMX, it's missing" which the answer is:
it's not in EnityFramework, it's in the NORM class library project. The page you're looking at was out of spec and not supposed to be using Entity Framework... and so on...

typing all that techno babble is faster in an email on a keyboard or phone so I can get the context that the developer was really looking at the wrong code-base and about to do work in the wrong order.

Additionally, if my phone beeps or rings, I feel the Pavlovian compulsion to respond. So, yes, there is a expectation to respond and reply ASAP. Some people even get snitty about not getting a timely response and blow up your phone trying to get you to respond. hence the phrase "blowing up my phone" relating to the slew of incoming calls/texts trying to reach you.

 

[Morrus]

As I've met a few devs who proudly tell me "they made a social media site", I roll my eyes as who hasn't written or could write a social media site.

I can't.

posting your activity on FB basically tells people when it's a good time to rob you

I have been robbed exactly 0 times since Facebook launched. I've certainly never had any tell me they got robbed because they posted on Facebook. I wonder if you might be exaggerating a bit? Besides, I'm not Facebook friends with anybody in the local burglar community.

it over-shares your personal life in ways that don't need to happen (I had a friend complain about her husband and their argument while he was out of town. I can't imagine that made resolving the argument easier now that he knows everybody knows)

"It" doesn't. "She" did. It only posts what you type!

 

[Morrus]

If it was something as simple as "we're on our way" then yes, a txt to a friend who is expecting you to come over is efficient.

I get questions like "Where's the Report object in the .EDMX, it's missing" which the answer is:
it's not in EnityFramework, it's in the NORM class library project. The page you're looking at was out of spec and not supposed to be using Entity Framework... and so on...

typing all that techno babble is faster in an email on a keyboard or phone so I can get the context that the developer was really looking at the wrong code-base and about to do work in the wrong order.

Additionally, if my phone beeps or rings, I feel the Pavlovian compulsion to respond. So, yes, there is a expectation to respond and reply ASAP. Some people even get snitty about not getting a timely response and blow up your phone trying to get you to respond. hence the phrase "blowing up my phone" relating to the slew of incoming calls/texts trying to reach you.

You're Captain Hyperbole today, aren't you?

Yes, texts are appropriate for certain types of communications. They aren't designed for writing novels. I think a certain buy-in from the user is required at that level.