Almost every day we read that something “Broke the Internet” or that “Twitter went crazy.” We learn that Facebook went wild, or something similar.
All of which is pretty silly since the Internet, Twitter, and Facebook are not sentient beings. Unfortunately, it appears that neither are many of the users of those things. The Internet is a network of servers connected by various means. At it’s best it allows people to shop, communicate, research, read, and connect with each other. At it’s worst, it is used to harm people and ruin lives. The only time it ever “breaks” is when my service provider screws something up and I lose connectivity. Other than that, for the most part it just hums along doing it’s thing.
Twitter is an app that allows people to say things that they almost immediately regret. I generally do that in person, but that’s a different story. The problem with Twitter is that once it’s out there, it’s out there forever. Like a pretty young women who lets someone take compromising pictures, there is just no way to stop the world from seeing your stupidity displaying itself for the rest of eternity. Sure, you can delete the Tweet and even delete your account. Too late. Someone has saved that errant Tweet and will Retweet it without mercy. The moral there is to think before you Tweet.
Facebook is pretty much the same. I only have about a dozen “Friends”. All of whom are actually friends or family member with whom I am close. Of those, I have about half set to “Do Not Follow”. Why? Because they incessantly post stupid political comments which I don’t want to read and wish not to comment on. To be frank, I’m not 100% thrilled that my blog posts end up on Facebook. Sure, it gives me more exposure, but it also means that more people might post insulting comments or try to “out” me if they think they know who I am. I like Facebook for a couple of EMS related groups, family photos, and the occasional cute pictures of my cute grand kids. I certainly don’t consider it a source of news or a guide to how to live my life.
Nor should you.
There are other social media platforms I don’t use, so I don’t know much about them.