When my children were growing up, I tried to instill in them the idea that anything had the potential to be bad for you, if abused. If a little is good, more is not better.
We all understand the value of a touch of seasoning in our food but, there is a fine line between well seasoned and over seasoned.
Face it, Social Media is here to stay. So is the personal computer in one form or another. Call it a tablet or a Smart Phone, electronic devices to keep us connected will be here forever and their form will only get smaller and to many, more convienient.
The computers of our age bear little resemblance to the computers of "my day". When I was a youngster, the average "mainframe" computer took up entire floors of buildings. Some took up multiple floors. Computers of that age were difficult to operate and impractical for anyone other than institutions to utilize. Folks, the cell phone that you have in your pocket (or maybe you are reading this on your phone and it's in your hand) has more computing power than the computers that first landed on the moon with Apollo 11 in 1969. I'm not talking just a little bit of computing power either. I'm talking HUNDREDS of times more. The Lunar Module had 2 UYK-20 computers. Folks, I used these same computers in the Navy. they had 64K RAM. That's essentially nothing by comparison to today's cell phones. We won't even talk about home computers with their gigantic memories.
All this convenient computing power gives way to communications freedom. We stay connected via Social Media. Nearly all of us today say we have friends all over the country or world.That's because of Social Media. In some cases, these friends are just a number but, to the mature individual, the friends on their particular media of choice are indeed real. You may not have met them all face-to-face but that does not change the social connection you feel to them. We have similar interests with our cyber friends just as we do our "real" friends. We talk to our friends on line, just like "real" friends.
I have friends on line whom I have never met in real life but I can tell you that I am just as close to them as if they lived on my street. I would help them in any way I could. Don't shake your head. You all have cyber friends that you would help too.
The point of all this is simple. Social Media is not the problem. It is the tool we use today to expand our world. It can enhance our world. Through Social Media, I have made friends with people whom I would have otherwise never met. They are wonderful folks who enhance my life every day. I have been able to reconnect with old friends whom I thought were lost to the routine of life, never to be seen again. I found them on-line. They are fine and it's wonderful to catch up with them and renew friendships, long thought defunct.
Sure, many employers will say that they feel Social Media detracts from worker productivity, cutting into profits. Maybe Facebook has no place at work. I hear "Candy Crush" is an addictive game. My wife and kids play games like Candy Crush all the time. It's relaxing I'm told. I prefer to read. Lately, I've been writing and posting what I write on the internet. Is that a bad thing? Nope. Everything in moderation.
Social media is not the problem. If someone you know is spending to much time on their social media page, here's an idea. Bring them a cup of good coffee (or other beverage), and engage them in face to face conversation. It used to happen all the time. In my life, it still does. I have a list of friends from Maine to California; Texas to Alaska whom I would love to have come over for coffee. I hope to see them one day. You never know.
In the mean time, I'll keep using my social media. It's great!
It's as you said...the 'abuse' of it that can become a problem.
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