A Social Media Society

As someone growing up in the computer-aged generation (though, I remember the early years without the Internet, and I was not a school kid with a cell phone), I am critical of all types of social media. I think many of them make us look better than we are, post lies and create gossip, to just unravel the whole value of a classic face-to-face conversation. Life is faster with these emerging technologies, and we all are "connected"  to those we know and love, and even to strangers. In my critical analysis, I am almost skeptical of the good in social media, and fear that the more tools developed, the more we will live our lives behind a computer screen. 
But my analysis can be taken as a two-sided approach, or even as hypocritical. Just as easily as I am to shake my head at a pre-schooler playing Candy Crush, or feeling that the White House having a Twitter account takes away the prestige and public service view of political office- I also am a user of social media. I use it to stay in the loop of things, even if I hate status updates and "check-ins" (if you check in when your out of the country, don't be surprised when someone robs your house- you posted it!) and I also use it predominately in my line of work. In fact, I do not know if I would be able to pursue the traditional graduate school setting if it were not for the technology of online classes, I value the flexibility of typing papers in the middle of the night, or reading during a break at work. 

For the most part, I would say I am pretty educated when it comes to the tools of social media. For personal use, I do log on to Facebook, and I have become obsessed with pinning recipes from Pinterest, though I highly doubt I will ever actually make a rack of lamb. For work, I have to log on to social media sites for clients. Sometimes, I monitor a company's Facebook or LinkedIn profile. Some days I have to come up with a clever pitch for Twitter, or I pin products to share on Pinterest. Social media, whether I like it today, but despise it tomorrow, is constantly in my routine. 

However, I chose two tools that I have not yet utilized, professionally or personally. The first one I decided to use was Widgets. I have heard about them, but never actually sat down to figure out how to use one. I used the application Snacktools and what I found was truly amazing! On the website of Snacktools, one can make banners for their company, make flipping books from their pictures, or create polls for their profiles on Facebook or Twitter. I found that this could be very helpful to me, professionally, especially when I do marketing work for clients. It is an easy to use site to make things, for example a poll asking if people believe Social Media helps or hinders society. 

The second site I chose to use, that I was not familiar with was a social networking site called, PatientsLikeMe. I got extremely interested in this one! Everyone goes online to diagnose themselves with something, and half the time they end up with ads for certain supplements, or programs with a regiment to end something like restless leg syndrome. Or, even worse, they end diagnosing themselves with Malaria or the bubonic plague. But this is an online site full of information and support, where people can go find others with a similar diagnosis, or just articles about foods to avoid during chemotherapy treatments. I have a nephew with ADHD, and there are so many forums for parents like my sister to share their story. My Mom is a Breast Cancer survivor, and she can activate a profile to share her journey through operations and various procedures in her battle against the Big C. Or, for myself, I suffer from Major Clinical Depression and I can connect with others who share similar worries and fears about how their illness holds them back. Professionally, this is a great marketing tool for companies that I work for that are in the medical community and our advertising a product. They can connect with their target audience and get their product advertised in a productive and less expensive way. 

I believe both of these can profoundly change the way people work and market things, to even how they handle certain situations on life's path. But, if I had to pick one or the other that I felt could reach a wider audience, or could make a better impact, I would have to go with the site that tugged at my heart strings more than they tapped into my neurotransmitters. While, I was really enjoying myself with learning about Widgets, and using Snacktools to come up with ways to use this application at work, my heart was more touched by the stories on PatientsLikeMe. I view social media critically, maybe it is because I was a Sociology major who learned that everyone eventually adapts to their culture, fits in with latest fads. Maybe I am critical of it because I spent a two year period working with one of the most smartest people, and a best-selling author, locating research and articles on what exactly social media was doing to us emotionally. Or, maybe I am critical of it because I've read one too many political status update commentaries where people brought up politics when they know the Golden Rule of never bringing politics or religion into a conversation. I got tired of hearing that someone had to clean the bathroom that day, or loathed going grocery shopping. And maybe I got tired of only seeing the positive pictures of people's lives, or having to put on that persona, when in reality that "friend" or "connection" just got let go from a job, or a loved one just got a bad diagnosis. I just got tired of the fake in social reality. 

But, I connected with this particular social media site because all masks were off. No, here, "all the world is NOT a stage". Disagreeing with Shakespeare, I would say that no one on this site is putting on a show, their posting pictures of weddings not because they want everyone to notice the cake design, but rather the groom's father, who beat his odds against brain cancer. On this site, people post real things about raising a child with a developmental disability, being disabled from a work injury, to finding out what it means to hear the proclamation, "I'm sorry, but you have MS". This site could have more of an outreach because it displays the truth. And in my opinion, on both the days I despise social media, or are ecstatic over a new networking connection, going to an informational site where people post the truth is better than any site that can display or network false images of ourselves.