week 2 - social media

“Social media is a bad idea – the rise of

social media has caused more and

more problems like Internet addiction,

social isolation, and invasion of privacy -

especially with the young generation!”

this is the question that our lecturer posted to us last week.. and before i answer it, i shall give a lil overview on what social media is exactly.. the following clip is a really cute and simple version of what social media is..

basically, social media is the boom of web 2.0.. with the technology on the internet for anyone and everyone to give or share their input, information, or even entertainment.

i of course agree that Social Media is a very useful and helpful thing.. the benefits are really uncountable. with Skype, i can talk and even see my friends in australia easily! FREE!!! haha. that really amazes me all the time. Instant messaging isnt that fantastic to me, cause skype kinda just blows them all away. unfortunately, not everyone has skype, and a lot of people are not comfortable talking face to face now.. (i'll get to that later)

then we have blogs, where we can jabber on about what goes on in our lives, bore other people or entertain them, have a place to rant about our problems etc.. but what's great about the blog to me, is that it's an avenue for me to post my experiences (about my faith) to share with others. cause i believe that it's only when we share that we can grow spiritually.

next we have podcasts. which i think is a very good source of music/videos that can be downloaded, created, and definitely shared. however i dont use this because no $$$. hahaha. it's cheap really, just that you need a credit card to have a itunes account to dwld these podcasts. so yes.

i would think that the social networking sites are considered social media as well since they do allow posting of thoughts/insights, media, songs etc. everything really, and can post your blog's posts as it updates. i'm not exactly a fan of networking sites like Facebook and all. because i dont see why there's a need to have 'friends' that i really don't care for, and whom i would never speak to if i see them. but of course a friend of mine decided i needed one and set it up for me. and now i only log in once in a while to get photos and that's it. so i guess it's good cause if not the photos that are taken by others will always be lost and i would never receive them. there are other bonuses of course, eg. to keep in touch with new acquaintances that i made in Philippines when i there.. to really net work and ask for help if needed.

so these are all the benefits that social media has created and given to us nicely. however.. the thought of the increasing social media and the extend of its use giving more problems does make sense. in fact, i do believe strongly that social media can be used in a degratory way for mankind. its like a double edged sword.

1stly, there is a WHOLE LOT of people now addicted to FB. always needing (let me emphasize the NEEDING) to log on just to plant their farms, feed their animals, cook their food whatever. and really, if these games are educational, or they just wanna waste 10 mins of their time while resting or waiting that's fine. but these people are really addicted to this! wanting to play every moment they can, rushing home to play and playing for hours in a row! even playing at work. of course they say it's not an addiction and that it's fun... but really. bejewelled has been around for ages, only now that it's on FB and they can compete with their friends in terms of points every adult wants to play it. it just doesn't make sense.

and remember when i talked about how people are uncomfortable talking on skype cause its face to face and voice to voice and real time and everything. i work with a lot of youth. and i think its so odd how a lot of them cannot open up to me (or any of my friends) face to face but they can if its online. they don't know how to explain their feelings, they are not even in touch with their feelings because everyone posts their thoughts and nobody really cares about the other person online. not really anyways because if there's real care, it wouldn't be on a public network like FB or blog comments. so yes, in this way social media is promoting the self centeredness that we already have and are just encouraging everyone to try to outshine the other with the highest ratings, or most friends or whatever.

i dont think that social media is an invasion in privacy because those who delve into it or use it, knows that it is opening up some part of their lives. so yeah.. its the users who are giving up their privacy.. not the cause of the technology. however, i strongly believe that social media is degrading the human brain and just making the younger generation more and more stupid. because now they dont know how to express themselves OUTSIDE a blog. now they have a free 'world' where noone (ie their parents) can touch them, and the can cuss the F-word every other sentence or so. and now they have a channel that not only invites but promotes gossip. it's really sad to see the younger generation stumbling over words as they come out of their mouth and not being able to think of a witty comeback in a word battle because online, you can wait and think (or check online) for a good comeback! its really quite sad.

in conclusion. i'm not a fan of social media. the only thing i like is skype but nobody skypes as much. and of course im' okay with blogs if its for a good use/cause. other than that, i think IM is a total waste of time because you don't even vaguely care about any person that you can only speak to online and not face to face.