From 9/8 to 9/11 – 2017 I had done something I had never done. I deactivated my Facebook, temporarily. I know this is something people do regularly these days, but it is something I had not done before. I always felt that if I needed a break from social media I would just not log on. However; that is easier said than done.
When your phone and email go buzz buzz buzz over and over again and you see your phone light up with those notifications one cannot help but be compelled to check them.
The reason for my exodus of THE FACEBOOK over that weekend was due to a few things of notice. Hurricane Irma was a big part, but not the storm itself more like how people reacted to the “threat” of the storm and how they shared their thoughts via social media ala “THE FACEBOOK…”
1st we should explore the trends of social media these days. Granted my opinions are just that. “MY-OPINION(S)…” I have been on the internet in a social way since 1998. I was doing data mining for social networking before there was even a term for it. Back in the days of message boards and just black/white text. The Yahoo directory, AOL Hometown were the 2 big ones I used back then.
Social Media changed the landscape. The main aspect is this: Back in those late 90’s and early 2000’s you had these other systems that basically allowed one to chat with people of similar interests, but were complete strangers.
The term social media pops up and Myspace/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram comes along. Now you have the same system, but with one huge dynamic change. One is no longer communicating with total strangers. Now they are sharing thoughts with people they already know or are mutual friends with a friend of yours/theirs and/or family.
Before, one would start a conversation with A/S/L “Age/Sex/Location.” Do people still communicate like that? Sure, but not nearly as often as it was. The concept of social media shifted that paradigm. Now almost all the major social media sites and/or apps want you to connect with people you already know.
The whole concept of using the INTERNET for social means was to meet new people you didn’t already know to make new connections with people you had things in common with; and in a world/reality where one would think that is important these days has been lost by the “Sheep Mentality.”
Can one still go online and do those things? Sure; but its really hard now. Now one is labeled a “creeper” or called “stalker” right out of the gates. Smart Phones did not help matters; they made them worse for sure.
Now with Smart Phones, EVERYONE… EVERYONE… AND EVERYONE has the ability to join the community and be as active or non-active as they want. Back in the day only the rich, tech savvy; curious people did just about all their business online. Now EVERYONE has the ability. The world or at least the United States of America has never been more connected. Rather than sharing ideas, creating new arts & crafts, breakthroughs in innovation in our technology, creating new friendships and relationships; People share videos of violence, racist comments, prayer chain letters, SPAM Identity Theft Emails, Political Left/Right/Middle “Senseless” Jargon and Cat Videos.
People, to me, have regressed so much these past few years! If I had to just solely judge this on what I see posted on SOCIAL MEDIA. We currently live in a society where it is perfectly fine to have an opinion of your own, but if you give that opinion to other people, and it does not go with those peoples’ beliefs prepare to be bullied and called every name in the book while they make up special new ones just for you.
People are so hypersensitive these days about just about every subject one can think of. Politics/Religion/Sexual Orientation – these things are very personal to people, yet, they blabber about it day and night on their social media and if you give an opinion that does not agree with there’s – does not matter if you are friends, close friends or family. They will turn on you in a heartbeat.
After this past election I saw so many people fighting over who should be president and if you vote for dildo A/B/C they will no longer be friends with you in real life…
What the hell is that all about? Since when did that mean anything to anyone? Fast Forward to Early September 2017 and we have a HURRICANE coming at us in the name of IRMA. 9/4 Governor Rick Scott goes on national TV and basically does the spoken word version of Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills.” Creates this huge panic. By Tuesday the 5th there is almost no Gas or Bottled Water in the whole goddamn State of Florida… What-The-Hell…
Note: The Storm did not hit our area till 9/10-9/11. Was it a dangerous storm? Of course… Was it the storm of all end of the world storms that would change the reality for the whole state of Florida? No… Not even close. They Said Category 4-5; hit us at 2-3… 8-15 Foot Storm Surge in our area. We got Zero… All the flooding was from rain in the low areas which happens any and every time we get heavy rain in our area. The only problem my area has is no power. Going on Day 5 Now… That was what was actually happening in my area.
On Social Media… Mainly, THE FACEBOOK… It was pandemonium… I never saw so much fear mongering and crazy talk in all my life, by people, in some cases, that aren’t even old enough to know where the song “Run to the Hills” came from. If people wanted to evacuate. I get it and that is fine. What isn’t fine is people/friends/family calling each other stupid and using other bullying tactics to put them down?
Why would you or anyone do that – that said they were friends? I have noticed a lot of this angry type behavior lately on THE FACEBOOK… Hell, some of it by me. I have to be reminded at times what I am doing on THE FACEBOOK… Me… Well; I am not sleeping well. AT ALL… I am in a lot of physical pain and have some pretty serious medical issues, that my personality, mind, patience with people skips a beat from time to time. For that I am so sorry to my friends that have to see that and some of them have exited my Facebook and have elected to only follow me on IG. I guess they still see the good in me lol! Its there, but vanishing QUICKLY…
I don’t mean to be an ass. I am just hitting my mental limits on what I can deal with. I have made a huge effort to keep my Instagram(s) and Facebook Accounts separate. So far that has worked. However, I feel like I need to step back with my FACEBOOK activity.
It’s the most popular because it’s the easiest and let’s face it. Most of us want easy. Most of us are lazy in some way or another. We all cannot be Rock Stars and Movie Gods where we have a team of people managing our social media accounts. Its just not reality.
I had a good friend tell me that I would be losing real friends if keep being overly insane with my Facebook rants. You know? I believe him and in the past week I have tried to comment less, like (emoji) or whatever those are less and less. My brother gave me some pretty good advice too. That; “I don’t want people to know what I really think about every other topic on the table.” I totally get that.
Me… I have always wanted to be heard when I speak/write, mainly when I write; but with all these “HARDSHIPS” I have had to endure in the past 18 months is just killing my happy go lucky self. Even when times are hard and they almost always are. These past 18 months have been the hardest. Even when I was blind. This has been way worse. Some of you KNOW WHAT’S UP… Some of you do not. I am no longer going to broadcast that out. If you want to know? We can have that chat.
I am still gonna post and promote everything ME on my SOCIAL MEDIA. I am just taking a huge step back from THE FACEBOOK to save myself the frustration of trying to explain things to people that either do not care or will not do the work to understand.
If it’s not easy they just won’t do it. Evacuating… That’s easy… Staying home to protect your home from a dangerous storm. That is hard. I am not saying anyone is weaker for doing what they did. Some of you have little kids. Some of you just don’t wanna deal with it. I get it. But with me. I always do things that are hard. My Whole FK’n Family are suborn all the way down to HELL… It’s something in my DNA.
So before you judge me and call me stupid or whatever BerkeleyCal word one would use to try to offend me. Save it. I do not care what your opinion is on the subject of me. If one is truly my friend they would never go out of their way to try and push my buttons. Especially NOW… Now would not be a good idea to try and get some reaction out of me. In my current state you can bet your well being on it that I will overreact and behave very badly about it. Again; I do not mean to be Mr…Evil or anything I just no longer have the patience and self-control that I used to.
That is why I need to take a step back from THE FACEBOOK…
I get frustrated; because I do so much work to try to inform people. I work so very hard to be rational in a reality that is not very rational. During that week of the Hurricane Prep I saw so many good, smart and capable people be bullied on/by/for Social Media.
Just “Run to the Hills,” think the worst possible thing. Take CNN and The Weather Channel as if they actually care about doing their job.
The news is not our friend brothers and sisters. They are in the business of DRAMA Driven By FEAR… Too many people just sucked all that in and went with it. What if WW3 broken out and all the major and sub-major cities were under Nuclear Attack or what if the movie “2012” with John Cusack really happened? How would we all react to that? Or better how would we react via social media… ALAS BABYLON ALAS BABYLON…