( #rant, #socialmedia )
Social Media. Sign up and start sputtering your thoughts on a unsuspecting yet overly susceptible public. While the world is connecting and sharing, I am thinking of going the other way. Disconnect. It is not the technology; I am tired of the people that use it, how they use it, and the walls that I am forced to put up because of how people are “using” this information.
I don’t manage friendships via Facebook. I don’t think you should either. I will think poorly of you if you think a Facebook or twitter message is meaningful communication. I will probably stop talking to you. I have done this before and I will do it again, this I am sure. I feel a sense of freedom in my disconnections, virtual and real.
This is not a dysfunction or a problem for me. If you are offended by this, you have the issue.
Early on, when social media was a new concept, I will admit to being drawn in by the allure of talking to old childhood and former high school friends. But I quickly realized that I have nothing to say to them beyond my happiness that they are doing well. No need to feel sentimental; say goodbye with a smile and move on with your life.
Edit: There are a few high school buddies that I chat with, so I guess I am not completely cutting myself off from my past. But I think it is interesting that 2 out of 200+ connections realized the “potential” of social networking.
Keeping tabs on me via my activity and interactions with others, silently seething because I am not posting on your wall or commenting on your pictures is not a healthy situation for you. I am fine. If you feel the need to capture my attention, pick up the phone, swing by for a cup of tea or a beer. Let me level set, if all of these feelings are coming up because of lack of use, abuse, or my being obtuse on social media, I have no incentive or desire to resolve the “problem”. I don’t sit around wondering if somebody purposely did something to piss me off on Facebook and when I do, it is time to check myself into a mental institution.
If you have expectations between us… don’t. If I can’t meet your lofty ideals (that we have never discussed), you should stop talking to me. I would certainly do the same, and I probably will.
If getting together with you is a pain in the ass, I will stop trying. If I feel uncomfortable after I have spent time with you, I will stop doing it. If you expect me to act the same as I was in college, I have no time for you. If you think I am a terrible person because of my political or religious views, why are you trying to get together with me? I don’t want to have a philosophical debate with you; I am not going to change your mind and you certainly won’t change mine. Shake hands and walk away.
I am 32 years old, I am not interested in feeling unsteady and unsure of my connections to people. I stand on bedrock, you are welcome to stand with me. If you want to fuck around, go play in quicksand.
