Stop Drinking the Kool Aid...

[Nataly 38]

I couldn't say exactly when, but something like two years ago, I became increasingly aware that I was spending an inordinate amount of time participating in what I like to call a "culture of fakeness."  I was using up a lot of my time posting and sharing things on social media in order to publicly portray my life as being far more AMAZING than it really is.  And something about buying into that really drove me nuts.  Why the fuck should I spend ANY energy at all putting lipstick on a pig?  Why fake it?  Why pretend everything is rosy and beautiful and awesome and that I am ♯BLESSED?!!  Don't get me wrong...  I *am* grateful for the good things in my life.  I am not complaining about the stuff I don't like... 

I am simply making a conscious effort - and it does take some effort - not to fake it.  Everyone else can do whatever they like - I just want to focus my time and energy toward doing things that actually challenge me to grow in a generally positive direction.

 

Edited March 24, 2019 by Nataly

[gowlerk 1,901]

Two kinds of posters I hate, or at least dislike. Look at me and all the wonderful shit in my wonderful life types, and constantly moaning FML types who usually post political memes. It's all about balance, insight, and being in touch with day to day reality. Most people do just fine. Of course everyone make some posts that could fall into either category because that stuff is part of life too.

[ryoder 1,380]

So Nat; Are you telling us the story about living in the French Riviera was all made up? :-(

[Nataly 38]

11 minutes ago, ryoder said:

So Nat; Are you telling us the story about living in the French Riviera was all made up? :-(

Hahahaha!!  No, it's true!!  But it's also true that with the property prices so high I am living in a dilapidated house that I cannot afford to fix up - lol!  My point is that some things are pretty awesome...  And like everyone, some are pretty shit.  Nothing wrong with sharing either, and like gowlerk rightly pointed out, it's a lot about balance...

[SethInMI 145]

3 hours ago, gowlerk said:

It's all about balance, insight, and being in touch with day to day reality.

Yeah. They could teach social media posting like they used to teach letter writing. The first rule is "be interesting". To me, this means

1. Post a variety of stuff. Same topic repetitive posts quickly become boring. One or two vacation pics is great. A dozen sucks.
2. Be real. No one likes a tragedy, but people like drama, so sure, post something that highlights the trouble in your life, but don't poor me yourself. 
3. Be funny. Easier said than done.  But you can get away with a lot if you are funny, not even lol funny, just smh funny is ok.

 

[oldwomanc6 38]

About damn time Nataly!

 

p.s. I like your new avatar pic.

[NewGuy2005 51]

16 hours ago, SethInMI said:

Yeah. They could teach social media posting like they used to teach letter writing. The first rule is "be interesting". To me, this means

1. Post a variety of stuff. Same topic repetitive posts quickly become boring. One or two vacation pics is great. A dozen sucks.
2. Be real. No one likes a tragedy, but people like drama, so sure, post something that highlights the trouble in your life, but don't poor me yourself. 
3. Be funny. Easier said than done.  But you can get away with a lot if you are funny, not even lol funny, just smh funny is ok.

 

Or just stay off of it completely.  It's not required, you know. 

Friends of mine told me how awesome Facebook was when it came out.  I got right on it.  After two weeks of avoiding "old friends" from high school I deleted my account.  I don't feel like I have missed anything.

[SethInMI 145]

2 hours ago, NewGuy2005 said:

Or just stay off of it completely.  It's not required, you know.

I define "social media" more broadly that most. I consider dropzone.com social media, as well as any other hobby based forum, or reddit, or any site where you join an online community and can post and interact with others, so while you can stay off all such sites, most choose to have some sort of online social media presence (as I define it).

I find it puzzling that for sites where the user individually curates a list of content creators (where they are by friending, or following), users complain about the content they see. If you have problems with content, drop the individual source of the content, not the entire site. Social media sites offer a wide range of people / groups to interact with, and it is up to the user to shape their experience in a way that meets their needs.

What are my needs? I want to be entertained. I want to laugh, I want to smile, I want to learn new things, I want to help other people laugh and learn as well.

[NewGuy2005 51]

I agree with your broader definition of social media.  I was referring specifically to Facebook.  I should have made that more clear.

[Nataly 38]

On 3/25/2019 at 4:13 AM, oldwomanc6 said:

About damn time Nataly!

 

p.s. I like your new avatar pic.

Hehe - I don't post on here or on FB very often anymore... 

And re the avatar...  It occurred to me that I donated my mane two years ago so was time to update - lololol

[BillyVance 34]

17 hours ago, Nataly said:

Hehe - I don't post on here or on FB very often anymore... 

And re the avatar...  It occurred to me that I donated my mane two years ago so was time to update - lololol

Well it's certainly a better look than the Annie Lennox style.

[billvon 2,379]

On 3/25/2019 at 5:10 AM, NewGuy2005 said:

Or just stay off of it completely.  It's not required, you know. 

Friends of mine told me how awesome Facebook was when it came out.  I got right on it.  After two weeks of avoiding "old friends" from high school I deleted my account.  I don't feel like I have missed anything.

I honestly don't get all the strong feelings about social media providers like Facebook.  I use it to see what friends are doing and see pictures of their skydives/kids/adventures.  That's about it.  I mean, I can see the content getting someone mad, but you can ignore that and just look at the pictures.

[Guest]

In my "Swan Song" post in FB about a year ago, I cited several reasons for why I was quitting the whole damn program: first and foremost, the whole "Boy, do I love me!" persona that it brings out in most everyone (I got fed up with seeing endless glamour shots from vain people - full disclosure, I did it too). I coupled this with paranoia about being doxed or swatted for my political views; lack of anonymity (the site's data analytics will fingerprint you thoroughly, alias or no), and finally, the huge amount of time it consumes with respect to newsfeeds and interests. As with all things, FB can be used or misused; however, I think it (FB) tends to bring out the worst in people. I read a formal study not long ago (cannot recall where) which basically concluded that Zuck created the ultimate lab rat reward system for people. In other words, it's highly addictive.

It's been a year, and I don't really miss it. As Billvon said, FB is useful for remaining in easy, casual contact with people. However, it's no substitute for getting out somewhere (e.g., to the DZ) and LIVING instead of being stuck in front of a computer.

Canadian psychoanalyst Jordan Peterson has some interesting discussions on YouTube (yeah, that's another site one can get hooked on) about Pr0n, but his remarks can easily be applied (without modification) to Facebook, in my opinion. Good on you, Nataly.

m