Social Media

[Pompey-Cowboy]

Social Media is the death of humanity and the sooner it disappears up it's own orifice the better. Yes, I am aware of the irony of posting this opinion on a message board.

 

[darthseinfeld]

I rarely post in this forum so forgive me.

Just curious about how people view social media.

Specifically Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram etc.

Twitter went down today and several people at my work, mind you, were beside themselves.

I don't think it was down that long, but you would have thought their lives were somehow affected.

I admit, I use Twitter as a source of information. There is a lot, and I mean a lot of noise that you have to deal with, but if you can manage who you follow and connect with, it is okay.

Facebook? To me, it is a cesspool of what we are. Just awful. I hate it.

YouTube? Same. Except these people are doing their best to get noticed.

Instagram? Something my kids use and I don't see much utility to it.

Just curious since it is a big part of everyone's lives whether they use them extensively or not.

To me, it is great on one hand. In some cases, information is there whenever you want it.

On the downside, it is infested with diseased minds and quite frankly, moronic behavior.

Sound off.

Facebook as a tool is good if you need something to stay in touch with people you won't get to physically see. It was a godsend for me as far as being able to keep up with friends from the military who are spread out across the country. We also effectively use it as a tool to spread information. Our ECN group has saved a few lives. However I agree with your assessment of it. If it wasnt for the my stated point, I would have deleted it.

In general social media is a very strong tool. However it gets used (abused) for peoples vanity.

 

[Londonboy]

This is the only site I post on, for the simple reason that I love Da 'Boys with a passion, I get on well with several Guys and Gals here and enjoy the interaction, but I'm a firm believer in the adage that a friend is Someone who'll help You move house and a good friend is Someone who'll help You move a body.
I use youtube a lot because I can listen to any music I want to for free and I can set up a playlist for various genres, composers and artists, which I find handy, I'll spend a couple of hours listening to different versions of things like Maple Leaf Rag or Chopin's Waltz in C# minor to find the one I like most and add it to a playlist.
What I find irritating about youtube is all the crappy amateur renditions I have to wade through to find that version I like, I don't understand why People think that anybody would want to listen to them murdering a beautiful piece of music.

 

[Runwildboys]

As someone said, this is as close as I get. No interest whatsoever in FB or Twits. I'm not sure what Instagram is.

One thing I have noticed, is that I know 3 or 4 guys who used to be pretty much outcasts w/ few friends, and they live for social media. It's pretty much all they do.

Instagram is for people who can't read.

 

[Runwildboys]

This is the only site I post on, for the simple reason that I love Da 'Boys with a passion, I get on well with several Guys and Gals here and enjoy the interaction, but I'm a firm believer in the adage that a friend is Someone who'll help You move house and a good friend is Someone who'll help You move a body.
I use youtube a lot because I can listen to any music I want to for free and I can set up a playlist for various genres, composers and artists, which I find handy, I'll spend a couple of hours listening to different versions of things like Maple Leaf Rag or Chopin's Waltz in C# minor to find the one I like most and add it to a playlist.
What I find irritating about youtube is all the crappy amateur renditions I have to wade through to find that version I like, I don't understand why People think that anybody would want to listen to them murdering a beautiful piece of music.

That's why I stay away from karaoke night.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Of those listed, I only use Youtube. Mostly for music and educational videos. I have a lot of hobbies and I learn a lot from those videos. I also enjoy science related videos and occasionally will use a how to video to fix stuff around my house. I've used it to fix my clothes dryer, sump pump, TVs, properly change oil on my snow blower, change the blade on my miter saw that was not intuitive at all.

 

[YosemiteSam]

But how could we connect with friends from 25 years ago in High School who wanted no part of you in High School but now want to be Facebook friends.

I can usually just head down to the state / county lockup or the local Walmart where I grew up.

 

[rynochop]

But how could we connect with friends from 25 years ago in High School who wanted no part of you in High School but now want to be Facebook friends.

Lol..that's the majority of my 'friends'. I actually care about what two of them are doing. My 30 year reunion is tomorrow night..the girl running it who I went K-12 with and never spoke to once pm'd asking me to come, it would be good to see me again.lol

 

[CouchCoach]

Social media is nothing more than a tool and has no intrinsic evil other than the participants emboldened with the suppressed desire to hurt others to gain something, temporary superiority. Social media has served to verify the extent of the greatness and sickness within the human race.

I do not consider YouTube social media because I only use that as a resource for music or film clips to use here but I don't spend a lot of time there because I might end up with Crazy Liotta Eyes instead of Bette Davis Eyes. I read the comments one time and once was enough.

I don't use any of it but my wife did to stay in touch with family and friends and they've used it the last 8+ years to "speak to her in the beyond" on Facebook now that she's gone. I do not ever go there but I know it's still busy and I know it gives some comfort to do that. And that makes it a very welcome tool for healing and remembrance.

The main reason I don't have use for social media is that it's ongoing proof of the greatest affliction affecting this country today, inflated egos and the need for attention. And it is the permission to be rude and forget those are human beings with feelings.

One thing that surprises me about the impact of social media is Booger's shunning of it and remaining old school with radio, print and TV and believe me, that's plenty. I am glad he gets his fix that way and not by firing off tweets while filling the toilet.

But to say I do not engage in social media is incorrect because that's what this is. It's not just about the Cowboys or football, it's about funny people making me laugh and people sharing moments in the lives that matter and getting to know the person behind those fingertips so I don't get down on people hooked on social media because I am. I need this, I need to come here everyday and see some familiar monikers, meet some new people and even have some fun when it's get's nuttier than a squirrel's nest in here with the bickering.

 

[CouchCoach]

Lol..that's the majority of my 'friends'. I actually care about what two of them are doing. My 30 year reunion is tomorrow night..the girl running it who I went K-12 with and never spoke to once pm'd asking me to come, it would be good to see me again.lol

It's that numbers thing all over again, I had the same thing happen.

I don't know if this happens to everyone but it certainly happened to me. As I have aged, the need for that wide circle of friends that I defined myself through began to shrink. My need to see myself as popular because I had so many "friends", like so many on Facebook need, began to dwindle down to the ones that really mattered.

You live long enough, you'll have those moments that tell you who your real friends are and you don't have to use social media to stay in contact with them. You don't have to tell them what you are doing, they will have already asked.

 

[Londonboy]

Lol..that's the majority of my 'friends'. I actually care about what two of them are doing. My 30 year reunion is tomorrow night..the girl running it who I went K-12 with and never spoke to once pm'd asking me to come, it would be good to see me again.lol

School reunions (which only happen in Cockneyland if 2 Guys happen to be sent to the same prison) seem to Me to be nothing more than a game of one-upmanship, I don't care if People I haven't seen in 30 years are doing well or doing badly, I'd probably turn up in shabby vomit stained clothing, with My beard doing the full Charles Manson and My hair unwashed and tangled, reeking of cheap booze and smoking a David Irvin roll-up, just for the fun of it.

 

[Pompey-Cowboy]

School reunions (which only happen in Cockneyland if 2 Guys happen to be sent to the same prison) seem to Me to be nothing more than a game of one-upmanship, I don't care if People I haven't seen in 30 years are doing well or doing badly, I'd probably turn up in shabby vomit stained clothing, with My beard doing the full Charles Manson and My hair unwashed and tangled, reeking of cheap booze and smoking a David Irvin roll-up, just for the fun of it.

This. If you haven't had any form on contact with someone for decades, there will be a very good reason why.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I use twitter to keep up on Cowboys football and WVU football with a smattering of NFL and College sports.

Facebook is a good way, as someone else has stated, to find old military buddies. Keep in touch with some people you otherwise might not talk with.

I watch a good deal of youtube. Subscribe to many channels on various topics like firearms, many different fishing channels, a channel of some people who live in the keys, a channel of a family that sail around the world in a catamaran, prank sites, the Dodo (animal vids), a few cowboys fan sites, the cowboys official youtube channel, few guitar related channels, bunch of channels where people do bush craft type projects, some primitive survival channels, some talk show channels like kimmel or graham norton and some other various things.

I think I have instagram but I never use it.

Tried the google+ pages that were trying to rival facebook but it never took off.

As far as online forums...this one is about the only one I post at now. I will read on a WVU fan board but rarely post. Don't really visit some of the guitar forums I use to frequent.

As far as social media goes...Use to what you want to use it, if you don't want to use it don't. It has it's good and bad but the beauty of it is the choice is up to you how to use it.

 

[kskboys]

Utube is not something I consider social media. Of course, all I do is catch some tunes occasionally

 

[Bigdog]

This forum is as close as I get to social media. No Twitter, FB, Instagram, or whatever other things are out there, depriving people of their privacy.

I am the same. I am not on any of those sites but many of my friends are pushing me to be. I said you can’t text or call me if we want to talk.

 

[Runwildboys]

It's that numbers thing all over again, I had the same thing happen.

I don't know if this happens to everyone but it certainly happened to me. As I have aged, the need for that wide circle of friends that I defined myself through began to shrink. My need to see myself as popular because I had so many "friends", like so many on Facebook need, began to dwindle down to the ones that really mattered.

You live long enough, you'll have those moments that tell you who your real friends are and you don't have to use social media to stay in contact with them. You don't have to tell them what you are doing, they will have already asked.

I was never one to prefer quantity over quality, as friends are concerned. My brother can't go anywhere in the state without running into someone he knows, and I've met about three people he knows with whom I'd associate, but none with whom I'd choose to spend any time.

 

[kskboys]

I was never one to prefer quantity over quality, as friends are concerned. My brother can't go anywhere in the state without running into someone he knows, and I've met about three people he knows with whom I'd associate, but none with whom I'd choose to spend any time.

Yeah, I know several people like that. They have a pile of "buds" who they pal around w/ and such, but it's basically a bunch of moochers and wannabes. No thanks.

 

[CouchCoach]

I was never one to prefer quantity over quality, as friends are concerned. My brother can't go anywhere in the state without running into someone he knows, and I've met about three people he knows with whom I'd associate, but none with whom I'd choose to spend any time.

That is most definitely a need in some people just like I have two close friends that cannot stand to be alone. One married a woman he liked pretty well just not to be alone. Still married after 10 years but he understands the role she fills in his life and treats her better than some I know that profess to loves their wives.

I am glad I am not that way but I can understand that need and everyone should get what they need as long as it doesn't adversely affect others. And you know, I tell myself I am fine being a loner but I do wonder sometimes if I really am. If I a truly am, why do I have the need to come here and interact?

 

[Runwildboys]

That is most definitely a need in some people just like I have two close friends that cannot stand to be alone. One married a woman he liked pretty well just not to be alone. Still married after 10 years but he understands the role she fills in his life and treats her better than some I know that profess to loves their wives.

I am glad I am not that way but I can understand that need and everyone should get what they need as long as it doesn't adversely affect others. And you know, I tell myself I am fine being a loner but I do wonder sometimes if I really am. If I a truly am, why do I have the need to come here and interact?

It's not you, it's us. We're hard to resist.

 

[CouchCoach]

It's not you, it's us. We're hard to resist.

Well, that's true. As long as I know y'all are on the site, I feel free to move about and hope that most of y'all are not mobile.

However, to be candid, it's not often that you get to meet good people with warm hearts, sick minds and a serious helping of smart***.