I enjoy Facebook but I'm thinking that may soon move to the past tense; I enjoyed Facebook. I say that because I find myself wondering if the conversation hasn't run its' course. Beyond my morning salutations and an occasional picture, there isn't much conversation going on. It was brought to my attention that there wasn't much discussion and I can't argue with that fact. Now I'm wondering about general conversation and I have to say I don't see much of that. It appears that politics has become toxic to social media and is killing it. Politics in general has begun to erode our society. My feeling is that is because politics are slowly displacing common sense. The objective today is forced acceptance. And not so much acceptance as an imposition.
As a general rule we interact with those that share something in common with ourselves. That began when we were very young. It begins with family and just grows from there. You could say we live within a bubble. As the bubble expands the wall of that bubble becomes stretched and thin. It may be school, our job, our town, city, state, country and with the Internet, the world! As far as Facebook goes we attempt to limit that with our " friends " list and privacy settings. We form " groups " in an attempt to keep the birds of a feather flocked together! But there will always be interlopers. Those with a different opinion, those with a different view. Groups begin to be fragmented as the topic of conversation becomes limited. We begin to not discuss certain topics, present certain views, even within our group. Facebook is an amalgamation of groups and sub-groups. When the groups divide the whole is affected. I'm thinking the whole is collapsing in upon itself.
What did we talk about when politics and religion was avoided? It was usually our job, whatever that happened to be. It didn't matter if it was school or work, that was the common denominator. But those topics require first person interaction. It's difficult to discuss the day if you didn't share that day, know what I mean? It's no secret that people generally enjoy talking about themselves. I'd say that is human nature. We usually listen to others just as a matter of course, the cost of doing business you might say. If I want you to listen to me, I need to listen to you. But if you are not sharing time in the first person we just talk about the past. That is to say, shared past experiences. In some cases instead of shared experiences, entertainment takes its 'place. When I am no longer entertained by you, I will dismiss you. Fact is, that is the method we use to establish our friendships.
A catch word I hear a lot these days is empowered. I feel empowered. I realize that it is supposed to be a good thing but it has an ominous sound to it. To be empowered is to feel like you have the power, the authority, to do something. Well as Ilhan Omar said, somebody did something. And that is what empowered brings to mind as far as I'm concerned. There was a day when social restraint governed our actions and speech to a great deal. Now we are being told, we are empowered! The difference is there is little to no restraint. In fact that restraint on social media comes under fire! Censorship and the First Amendment is often cited. The first amendment empowers me, I can say whatever I want, to whomever I want, and you can't do anything about it. There is little social restraint, ironic because it is called social media. I'd also suggest changing ethics plays the biggest role in all of this. When a society decides that ethics is only predicated on one thing, how does this effect me, you can't expect much in the way of restraint. And I see our society headed in that direction, the notion that I should be able to just do whatever I want. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else I should be free to do that. You get that ideology when you replace optimism with instant gratification. It's what I want.
I guess I wandered off a bit in that last paragraph. I guess what I'm trying to write about is the lack of interpersonal contact that social media can provide. It's not a good thing to be socialy separated, we all know that. Being retired I don't get out a whole lot. I don't belong to any social groups and have no desire to do that. Oh I talk about it every now and again. But, truth be told, it just seems like a lot of effort. I've got plenty of activities to keep me busy. I'm happy being an observer. I am taking notes though. Sometimes that is all I'm sharing, notes and observations.
As a general rule we interact with those that share something in common with ourselves. That began when we were very young. It begins with family and just grows from there. You could say we live within a bubble. As the bubble expands the wall of that bubble becomes stretched and thin. It may be school, our job, our town, city, state, country and with the Internet, the world! As far as Facebook goes we attempt to limit that with our " friends " list and privacy settings. We form " groups " in an attempt to keep the birds of a feather flocked together! But there will always be interlopers. Those with a different opinion, those with a different view. Groups begin to be fragmented as the topic of conversation becomes limited. We begin to not discuss certain topics, present certain views, even within our group. Facebook is an amalgamation of groups and sub-groups. When the groups divide the whole is affected. I'm thinking the whole is collapsing in upon itself.
What did we talk about when politics and religion was avoided? It was usually our job, whatever that happened to be. It didn't matter if it was school or work, that was the common denominator. But those topics require first person interaction. It's difficult to discuss the day if you didn't share that day, know what I mean? It's no secret that people generally enjoy talking about themselves. I'd say that is human nature. We usually listen to others just as a matter of course, the cost of doing business you might say. If I want you to listen to me, I need to listen to you. But if you are not sharing time in the first person we just talk about the past. That is to say, shared past experiences. In some cases instead of shared experiences, entertainment takes its 'place. When I am no longer entertained by you, I will dismiss you. Fact is, that is the method we use to establish our friendships.
A catch word I hear a lot these days is empowered. I feel empowered. I realize that it is supposed to be a good thing but it has an ominous sound to it. To be empowered is to feel like you have the power, the authority, to do something. Well as Ilhan Omar said, somebody did something. And that is what empowered brings to mind as far as I'm concerned. There was a day when social restraint governed our actions and speech to a great deal. Now we are being told, we are empowered! The difference is there is little to no restraint. In fact that restraint on social media comes under fire! Censorship and the First Amendment is often cited. The first amendment empowers me, I can say whatever I want, to whomever I want, and you can't do anything about it. There is little social restraint, ironic because it is called social media. I'd also suggest changing ethics plays the biggest role in all of this. When a society decides that ethics is only predicated on one thing, how does this effect me, you can't expect much in the way of restraint. And I see our society headed in that direction, the notion that I should be able to just do whatever I want. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else I should be free to do that. You get that ideology when you replace optimism with instant gratification. It's what I want.
I guess I wandered off a bit in that last paragraph. I guess what I'm trying to write about is the lack of interpersonal contact that social media can provide. It's not a good thing to be socialy separated, we all know that. Being retired I don't get out a whole lot. I don't belong to any social groups and have no desire to do that. Oh I talk about it every now and again. But, truth be told, it just seems like a lot of effort. I've got plenty of activities to keep me busy. I'm happy being an observer. I am taking notes though. Sometimes that is all I'm sharing, notes and observations.
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