Last weekend, while my girlfriends and I were sitting around the lake chatting, the topic of social media came up. Mostly, the girls were talking about how ridiculous some peoples' Facebook status updates are. How they don't really care to know about every article a person reads online, or what they had for breakfast, or that they have bad cramps. I believe the term that was used was "Social Media Freaks."
Definition: People that live in a "virtual world." People that consider their online friends their "real friends." People who are obsessed with updating their social media status at all times and believe people actually care.
I was kind-of just taking this conversation in, and the thought came to me: "I should blog about this."
Then, my next thought... "Oh my gosh, I AM one of those people - a Social Media Freak."
I really really like blogging. (Facebook, Twitter, etc. - not as much, but I consider blogging a big part of my life.)
I think (and often talk) about my online friends as my real friends. I find myself saying things like "Well, my blog-friend _____ says _____" or asking, "Did you see where _____ from _____ said _____?" MULTIPLE times a day.
I also think about my readers when I go a few days without blogging... Like my absence is actually noticed in their lives. Like they miss me. Like I MUST get back to them immediately because they are probably worrying about me. (And sometimes, they actually are... I have the emails to prove it.)
Does this make me a bit vain? Probably.
Does this make me a "Social Media Freak?" I'm going with YES.
Am I ok with this? I think so...
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| From http://www.herblog.com/ |
Blogging does add something to my life. Not just the writing of blogs - although that outlet has been HUGE for me - but in the reading too. In fact, that same afternoon out by the lake, we were talking about our lack of "mom friends" or a "mom community" at home, and I realized that I don't feel lonely in motherhood, even though I have very few mom-friends in my town, largely because of my blog friends.
I feel like I am a part of a big community - a community that empowers women, that encourages creativity and honesty, that fosters openness and discussion, and I love it. To be honest, I'm a little bit embarrassed by how much I love it.
So... Social Media Freak? Count me in.
Who's with me?
- On a slightly different note, but further proof of the above, have you checked out PicMonkey yet? I was seriously mourning the loss of Picnik, but I think I am going to like this (gasp) even more!!! I'm super excited to play around with it one of these days...
- And, again because I think you people actually really care about the mundanes of my life ;), I've posted a few more photos from my girl's weekend courtesy of Lindsey and her much better camera/photography skills here.
Almost Friday...
I hear lots of people saying that FB statuses are mundane and annoying and stupid, but the reality is that FB is going strong, so someone must like all those silly, boring statuses. I'm one of those people. I think it's interesting to see what people are eating and what they're doing with their kids. It reminds of my tiny, liberal arts college, where I hung out with a close group of friends and we always knew the silly, little details of each other's lives.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I like PicMonkey way better than Picnik. I think it works better and faster, but it's laid out pretty much the same as Picnik, so it's easy to get comfortable with.
LOVE this. I was actually thinking about this blog community thing this morning (and thinking about blogging on it-- but maybe instead I'll just link to you, since I'm lazy like that!). Yesterday afternoon during a meeting at work, we were talking about building community in our classrooms and my boss was asking us "what communities do you feel like YOU belong to?" and I felt sort of weird and embarrassed that the first one that came to my mind was the blog community!! Glad I'm not alone out there, though! Love you, friend!
ReplyDeleteIm always telling my boyfriend how much blogging means to me. I am always tweeting other bloggers and thinking about my next post. Thanks for this post. I always love to read about social media because I am in the broadcasting business and it is an integral part of what we do now. I have been thinking about blogging about what I do. YAY
ReplyDeleteI'm with you! I have been blogging for 3 years now, and i have made some wonderful blog friends. And usually I'll say "my blog friend, so-and-so" but i'm starting to correct myself & just say 'my friend' - b/c the truth of it is - they ARE my REAL friends!!! Haha! I have known one in particular for about 6 years (we met on myspace at first!) and later "met" through blogs 3 of her real life friends. I actually flew there in December & stayed with her. GASP! HORRORS! Those who don't blog thought i was crazy, my sister was horrified, but they were EXACTLY who i thought they were! In fact...even better! :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the blogging community i have found, by accident!
As for FB, well...i do find some of the mundane interesting...other things i don't know WHY someone would announce to the world! HAHA! But those people i just "hide" from my news feed. ;)
I'm with you. I really do try to limit what I post, but I love doing it.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend.
Uh oh...if you're a social media freak, then I definitely am!
ReplyDeleteI agree, E! Sometimes I worry about how involved I am in blogging but there are definite benefits. I have great friends in real life, but most of them aren't moms yet, so I feel like this is such a good way for me to get that time/interaction with other moms!
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