Gripes Regarding Social Media

For anyone that actually reads my crappy content on a regular basis, I apologise for not updating the blog in a while. I've been working on my Black Ops II review and that will be out when I finish editing the campaign portion of the review. For first-time readers, welcome and leave while you still can. Really, there's nothing of value here.

Today, as a placeholder for any actual content, I'd like to go on a long-winded rant on social media. While I understand that social media and sharing your life on the internet has become ingrained within the global consciousness, I cannot comprehend how people act on social media. While I do believe that people should be able to do as they please, it does not mean that I condone things that they do. Sure, some people may call me hypocritical but I just like to think of it as real freedom. Where I let people express their freedom to do whatever they want within the limits of the law while I express my freedom of speech by highlighting my disagreement about it.

Maybe I'm being dramatic but I really hate people who overshare. People that update their statuses constantly, or post a picture of themselves every few hours or even check in wherever they are. While it is nice to share your life with other people, there is such a thing as sharing too much. I do not need to know that you were just in the toilet and had a stellar dump. I do not need to know that you went to some random place to have dinner. I do not need to see you relaxing on a beach in some island paradise. Okay, I lied about that last part, that's actually kind of cool.

The problem I see with some people is that they are narcissistic and basically bragging about how awesome their lives are. It makes me feel bad about my own boring existence and does leave me with a distinct sense of envy. In this case, I will recognise that it is my own fault for giving a damn about someone else's highlight reel. Yet at the same time, there is this sense that some people are doing it to stroke their own ego. Great. Cool. You're having drinks at a trendy nightclub. Wow, you're so hip and cool. Then, their friends who were there or wished they were there will swoop in, sing praises and comment at how great everything was. If you want to stroke your ego so badly, find a room and just keep it to yourself. Also, please clean up after yourself afterwards. Look, I understand that people may have legitimately enjoyed something they share and that's fine. However, there are people out there (I'm embarrassed to admit I am friends with some people like this) who literally talk about how EVERYTHING they have done/experienced/went to was awesome. That's great for them but they don't have to share everything. Then, there's the subset of the attention-seekers who post something vague as their status obviously so that someone will ask them what's wrong and they have someone to complain to. If you have a problem, feel free to talk about it, don't be coy and try to get people to pay attention to you.

Alright, I'm a bit jealous because of how cool all the things they do seem and maybe I'm just an intensely private person, I'm willing to concede that point for the last argument. But not for this one. The second problem I see with social media is security and privacy. As in people who don't alter their privacy settings and ensure that their whereabouts, personal details and parts of their life that they choose to share on the internet is open to random strangers. Sure, not everyone is a crazy stalker or really creepy internet pervert but it doesn't hurt to tone it down a notch. It's especially bad for someone who has lax privacy settings and likes to share a lot. Social media is a fantastic intelligence-gathering tool when used against these people. Within a few clicks of a button, I can learn where a particular person lives, who their significant others are and possibly even where they've been if they're prone to checking in to every location they go to. I mean, come on, you're basically doing a stalker's job for them! On the privacy note, I really don't need to know that Person A just had the best bowel motion ever. It's just disgusting. Also, as someone who is intensely private, I extremely dislike it when friends tag me in photographs or events. I just don't like the idea that someone I may not know can see me or know what I've done.

Another gripe I have regarding social media is the discussion of controversial topics such as politics or religion and how it becomes a full-blown flame war. Granted, this happens in real life when people get together to talk politics or religion but I personally believe it's far worse on the internet because of the lack of actual physical contact which I feel possibly makes people more brazen and less likely to be polite about their views. Admittedly, not all discussions become heated and not all people will be empowered by the relative anonymity provided by being behind a computer on the internet. But think of all the (relative) freedom you have when discussing the most controversial topics. I'm sure you have seen some pretty antagonistic stuff coming in the form of a tweet or a YouTube video or a YouTube comment. To use the pejorative so popular on the internet, keyboard warriors are protected by the sense of anonymity afforded by the internet, allowing them to push boundaries and be pretty terrible human beings without the fear of physical retribution or punishment.

Sparknotes version: I dislike social media mostly because people that dominate social media are really overbearing narcissists, people that don't understand the concept of boundaries and god-damned keyboard warriors. Or, I'm just an opinionated bastard who hates most things anyway. Either way, that's my take on things.