New thoughts about social media

Why do we share things on social media?  

I thought the the term “social media” came from the early days of Facebook where the prompt said “Phil is…”.  Since 2009, it now says “what’s on your mind?”  https://talkingpointsmemo.com/idealab/facebook-tests-new-status-prompt-questions-how-are-you-feeling#. But from Samual Stroud, the term has older origins to the days of AOL.  https://www.giraffesocialmedia.co.uk/who-coined-the-term-social-media-first/#:~:text=In%201997%2C%20Ted%20Leonsis%2C%20was,which%20being%20AOL%20Instant%20Messenger.

At its simplest, social media is the way many people communicate today.  Think about it this way.  You’re invited to a party and you just got back from a European vacation.  It’s natural that you want to share your stories with friends and maybe even new acquaintances at the party.  You may even take out a photograph to share.  Or maybe even further back - the postcard.  When you were on vacation, you’d write your impressions of a new place on the back of a pretty picture of your vacation spot and mail it to a single person.  Are there people that would go to a party and not tell their friends why they haven’t been around for a few weeks?  That’s kind of weird, right?  You may say it’s even anti-social not to share what you’ve been doing.  Ok, if you don’t got to parties or don’t have friends, this may not be for you.  

Some people use a “trick” in social settings.  They ask you “how was your weekend?”  Many people ask this out of true interest or are simply being polite.  But some may hope that after you share your story, you ask them about their weekend which they’d love to tell you all about (and oh, by the way, they just happen to have some photos to share).  I apologize as a keen storyteller, after telling my story, I often forget to ask the initiator “thanks for asking, and how was your weekend?”.  I see some people on social media simply post “how’s your day?”.   It may not be fair to all, but I’d guess that may be a similar strategy for people wanting to (politely) share their story.

This is a stretch - when some of us log into our social media platform of choice, are we not asking the question “what’s new”?  We may not ask it directly, but we’re here aren’t we, we came to the party, what did we expect?  We want to see what’s new with our close friends, old friends, new acquaintances and maybe even strangers.  Then, when we’ve made the rounds, we’re comfortable sharing [in case you were wondering], this happened on my weekend (and here are a few photos that I took to remember it).

I feel that social media is an amplified digital version of traditional social meetings and gatherings.  It’s a new form of communication that lets us connect with friends and with strangers beyond the limits of physical proximity.  But, the social contract is delicate - I confess, I don’t appreciate all of its finer points and I can dominate a conversation at times or accidentally offend some people.  Digital amplification on social media can potentially create more serious issues or bigger embarrassment for some people.  I don’t have the new rules, but there are some commonly accepted guidelines for social media.  You need to carefully monitor your frequency of communication.  You need to be conscious of the amount of information you share.  And just like an office party, you cannot talk about sex, religion or money.  

I take a huge amount of photos of many subjects.  I record my impressions and ideas on video.  I travel quite a lot.  I have some friends that have the interest and time to see my longer-form stories while others like to get a glimpse into what Phil’s been up to.  I’m trying to be careful how much I share, but there’s lots more if you’d like to sit down.

Epilogue - remember that guy that used to come to all the parties with a mixed tape of all the new tunes he wants to share, what’s he doing now on social media?