Happy Memorial Day - What Social Media Do You Utilize, And What Are the Best and Worst Things About it
Mates,
As anyone who has seem me post knows, I am Fred Flintstone. I know as much about computers as I do about Mandarin Chinese. Mgoblog is as much social media as I 'do'. I don't FB, I don't do Insta, no Kik, or any of a dozen other platforms (not even MySpace!). I realize that in this day and age I am a true minority and I haven't done much to find out about other platforms.
So my question is this: What social media platforms do you use at least once in a while, and what are the best and worst features of those platforms. In other words, what do you like best about them and what bothers you about them.
Happy Memorial Day. I hope you have had an enjoyable long weekend.
XM
mrs XM is on FB and i think she posts a lot of family stuff. my joke is that extended family members and friends know more about whats going on in my house than i do, and it has eliminated any need to send things like Christmas cards which used to be a 'catch up' type of tool.
not pining to get on social media, but am/was genuinely curious about others. thank you (and the others who have posted) for sharing your thoughts.
If Mrs. XM is using FB for that, then I think you are good there. FB is best used for connecting with those who live away from you, especially family.
When I left Michigan for work, it's how I really kept in touch. When I picked up a wife along the way it was how she kept in touch back home.
And you never have to send a birthday or holiday card again.
You do have to delete a few friends and relatives who are too much drama, but otherwise I don't have any of the complaints others do.
i think what you've described is what mrs. XM does/has done. i know there is some value to it and yes, i'd be interested in family pics, but i can see the time-suck factor as too much for me.
I just use twitter to follow sports, news and weather. I never really comment though some posts can get nasty with political fighting, I just scroll through.
I only friend people I know and I don't mind what side of the political Isle they fall on. I just mainly talk sports on FB. It is kind of nice way of keeping up with family and friends.
I visit Instagram the least. I've heard of a few other social media platforms but don't have time to join or comment.
I only use Strava and linked in. The latter is only for job searching (as it does a good job for my industry) so it doesn’t really count. I rarely if ever look at the news feed section.
Strava is excellent for sharing running and cycling workouts. Any discussions are generally positive and about the workout.
cons: there are some people who post “fake” workouts using an electric bike or car to get the top times on certain segments. This is only a problem if you are competitive and Strava appears to do a good job of identifying these.
i have not heard of strava.
i would be the slow cow of any on-line tri-athlete workout community. as i have said many times, they time me with a calendar when i compete, not a stop watch.
good on you. i hope with warmer weather finally here you are having a worthwhile spring for training. i haven't checked on races, but what is your sense of whether you might compete this summer or if they'll even have races?
I think there will be races in the fall. But it will be a question of it will be pros elites only? I’m going with probably on that one.
the weather has been great and I’m in the best cycling shape of my 30s.
the level of athlete you run into on Strava is really dependent on your area so you might be one of the quickest in rural upper peninsula, even if you are timing with a calendar.
NONE. I think social media is for attention whores and people without lives of their own.
Unless someone/something holds sway over your life somehow--why bother "following" it/them?
Best: In moderation, lots of fun, lots of different people and opinions, chance to get some venting
Worst: The President of the United States, the ultimate circus clown, on full display for the asshole he is, loving the asshole he is, and millions of assholes who worship him and think he is even halfway competent.
You asked, mate.
thank you for your input.
just out of curiosity, what was/were your prior user names?
Just out of curiosity, what the fuck business of it is yours?
It must be god-awful lonely wherever you live.
Full-blown millennial here - did a grand social media purge in 2016 after I finished grad school where I went through and hand-deleted every picture, post, like, retweet, etc from all of my accounts. The process took months...
Deleted: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn
Kept: Snapchat (my buddies are notorious for sending videos of themselves singing in the car and i can't give gems like that up)
I've maintained that it was one of the most liberating decisions of my life. You don't realize how much useless stuff is being shoved down your throat until you turn off the firehose. The time I used to spend mindlessly scrolling one app or another I've devoted to learning and I'm better off for it. I use Reuters for the small amount of news I choose to consume.
Also have a lot more time to bust through people's walls...
I use Facebook and LinkedIn. I hardly ever post anything on Facebook, and its really only a way for me to keep in touch with guys from undergrad. We've got our private group for stuff related to fantasy football, weddings, tailgating if we're all in town together, etc.
Social media has its pros, but the worst thing about it is also the best thing: that everyone gets a voice. Not everyone should have a voice. Some people are absolutely toxic and spread the wrong kind of message.
Twitter only and there's nothing good about it.
Totally depends on what you're looking for. Millenial here:
LinkedIn: Useful to see where old colleagues have gone / if I know someone who works somewhere. (Actually has been very helpful several times.)
Twitter: Great way to burn ten minutes. I don't ever post + only follow people on subjects I'm interested in. Found lots of cool stuff there. Recommend it, if you carefully curate your feed.
FB: This is mostly a family-and-old-friends connection service. Lets me see who lives where, etc etc. I don't post here except for huge news or to like photos of my friends' kids.
Instagram: This is the A1 stuff. Friends posting silly social-media type content to Stories + several of my friends are good photographers or post what they're up to. None of the toxic FB stuff. Feels like what social media should be.
Nextdoor: Usually full of awful busybodies, but fantastic if I have a question about my local area and sometimes people post really cool local info. Also great for giving away / getting things. (I often borrow tools / let others borrow my tools over Nextdoor, have given away old TV's, gotten old furniture that just needed to be reupholstered for free, etc.)
MGB is it for me. Social media is addictive and terrible for most users. I try to stay away as much as possible...no FB, IG, Twitter, etc for me. I'm addicted to UM football ready, but hopefully I can avoid the negativity, dumbass opinions of people who should never have a platform to speak from, and constant judgement found on the others.
I have been on a number in the past...Myspace back in the day, Twitter, FB, Snapchat, but never IG. I found myself wasting too much time taking pics and videos on Snapchat rather than enjoying the moments so I removed it. I found myself arguing with OSU fans more than anything else on Twitter so I removed that. Myspace took care of itself back in the day when it ran its course and was replaced by FB. Then, several years ago when I first moved in with my fiancee a kid was bitten by a dog in our neighborhood. The cops used my FB to pull up pictures of me and the dogs and the kid's dad originally identified the dog that bit is kid as ours (it wasn't). We have a tan mut and fawn boxer. There is also another boxer and two similar sized tan colored pit mixes in the area, so I have to assume it was one of them as they are all tan colored and similar sized. The cops even fined me for failure to register the dog. It wasn't even my dog and we had just moved to the location a few months ago. It wasn't worth getting an attorney for $150 fine, but it was a big hassle and I had to appear in court. Needless to say after that incident I deleted FB and am now more cautious about what I put online.
Prosecutors regularly look at FB or other social media looking for material relevant to a person's case. It is really shocking how people give up their right to privacy, voluntarily, by sharing all kinds of things about themselves.
People want attention and validation. Social media is an easy way to get it. Many times that need is stronger than the dangers of less privacy...until it isn't any longer.
MGoBlog is really the only thing I use but the frequency is declining.
Best thing: The posters
Worst thing: The posters, broken features, political posts, sense of Brian being checked out
Facebook, Twitter, et al I have zero interest in reading or participating.
Facebook: This is mostly just to stay connected with old friends and family. It's nice to see what everyone is up to. I occasionally make posts, but only when I find things that are really interesting or funny that I think will have universal appeal. With that sad, Facebook has really been bumming me out lately. It's sad how many people I know have absolutely no information literacy and how much they're willing to display that flaw publicly as they spread bullshit conspiracy theories and misinformation. It's just really toxic stuff.
Twitter: I mostly just use this to follow sports and news. I don't personally tweet. It is a great source of information and it gives me several really good laughs every day, but the discourse is so toxic. It's probably best to just not read any replies.
Nextdoor: I mostly just use this for comedic relief.Watching my fellow suburbanite neighbors freak out about the dumbest things imaginable cracks me up.
LinkedIn is the only social media account I have ever had.
The best thing about it is that it has mostly replaced business cards for me. A decade ago I had these big stacks of business cards in rubber bands in my desk, vaguely sorted by month I got them or by project. If was looking for the name & contact info for “that guy from client X” I’d have to dig through a stack or two of cards to find it. Now I just search my contacts by whatever fact or two I remember; first name, company, city, alma mater, etc. On the flip side, I no longer carry cards I just connect with people on LinkedIn after I meet them it makes a natural follow-up contact & then you both are easily able to get in touch
There is also good professional content on LinkedIn in the form of research articles & related discussion, materials from conferences, event notices etc.
The worst is when people treat it like Facebook.
Never say "Happy" Memorial day!! It is a day of somber reflection of the men and women of this great county who died during their service.
No saying "thanks for your service" that is Veterans day.
My pet peeve and .02
USMC vet.
Ni hao ma
Best (well, manageable):
Instagram - Nice, simple, and relatively free of politics and bullshit if you follow the things that interest you. My whole feed is nothing but friends, cool architecture, and scenic at destinations. Some people will complain that it sets an unrealistic standard for people because they only show their best side. So what, men buy cars they don't need and women wear makeup all in the name of presenting themselves as hip, beautiful, and better than what they really are. Everyone does it in every medium - social media just enables more people to see it.
Facebook - Once a really cool platform which took down MySpace overnight. I was in high school when it really exploded in the 2nd half of the 2000s, and my friends were always on it. It really was everything people made it out to be. Then a few terrible things happened:
- They went public as a company and also allowed advertising
- 20% of the people you are friends with account for 80% of the content you see on your wall.
- Our friends that still post regularly started having kids and posting baby pictures non-stop
- The 2016 election happened and everyone had been angry ever since (both sides)
- Our parents and grandparents all got on and started spamming our walls with shit like this:
Because of this, Facebook is an absolute cesspool of targeted ads, hot takes, forwards from grandma, and baby pictures of ugly children have no interest in seeing. HOWEVER: I rank it as one of the best platforms because I use it to log into just about everything else. If it weren't for that, I would have left Facebook 5+ years ago.
Snapchat - Originally made for sending nudes (seriously, that was the creators' intention). Its not great for communicating, but it works for sending a lot of pics and links to each other. However, this platform is quickly going down the route of FB and becoming a poorer experience.
Worst:
LinkedIn - Unless you are looking for a job, (in which case it isn't bad, but use indeed instead), Linkedin is nothing but virtue signalling, holier-than-thou professionals looking for praise from everyone. Everyone is an aspiring "business consultant" (lol) who slurps up everything GaryVee tosses out like its gospel. In addition, your inbox is basically a secondary advertising placement for companies. The typical posts you will see on LinkedIn are the following:
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That being said, make one if you are a professional. For some reason, so many companies are starting to require you to give your LinkedIn on your application (like its a mandatory field)
Pure Nazi SuperAIDS:
Tik Tok - remember that terrible social media app, music.ally? It was a social media platform where annoying teens would lip-sync to cringe-worthy songs. Seriously, that's all the app was. Well, the Chinese bought it, revamped it, and spent millions and millions marketing it on Facebook, Instagram, and just about everywhere else. Unfortunately, it started catching on, and then when the quarantine hit, it exploded in popularity. Every video follows one of 3-5 formats and they all use the same music. What makes it even worse? The more you watch one type of video, it will suggest more and more similar videos, and the more you hear the same songs. My girlfriend has this app and I despise it to my very core. The platform's privacy policy has reserved the right to share any information with Chinese authorities as well, so there is that too.