Except for social media, that is.
It's not that I do not enjoy meeting new people, or sharing ideas, or discussing common interests, etc., it's just that I have been put off by what I can only describe as the nearly unlimited amount of whiny crap that seems to be the majority of the content on most every social media platform I have looked into.
So I'm going to whine about it, right here, on the somewhat antiquated social media platform known as the blogosphere.
The reason I am going to whine about this topic today is because just a little while ago I received yet another text from a casual acquaintance asking me if I wanted to follow him on Twitter.
To which I replied no, a thousand times no.
My quick and decisive reply to this person was the result of a couple of factors. First and foremost was the fact that I don't follow anyone on Twitter, not even people I respect and admire, so why would I start with someone I know on a strictly casual basis and of whom the little I know of has led me to believe that he is an insistent whiner.
As in, every single time I see him (which is not all that often), he seems to have nothing to talk about except how screwed up everything and everyone on the planet is, and how we are living in the worst possible time to be alive, and it's only going to get worse, and blah, blah, freaking negative crap blah.
Which, if you haven't guessed, is not what I prefer to center my conversations around.
For I believe sincerely that we are living in the best world that has ever existed, and there is quite a bit of historical evidence to back that belief up - hell, just a scant 100 years ago only 15% (plus or minus a percent) of homes had indoor plumbing, and I for one really, really enjoy the advantages offered by indoor plumbing.
The world is such an incredibly better place now than it has ever been - but if your sole source of information was from social media you might be like the aforementioned casual acquaintance of mine who lives under a big dark cloud.
Just being able to carry a device in your pocket that allows you access to the sum of mankind's knowledge should be cause enough for endless celebration, but no, it's not enough for some people - they have to use their smartphones to look up dismal crap and then share their dismal, whiny reaction to that dismal crap with everyone they meet.
Well, that's fine for them, but I for one am not having anything to do with this golden age of discontent. I prefer to discuss things that have made life better for nearly everyone over just the last one hundred years.
For instance, did you you know that just one hundred years ago only about 6% of American adults had graduated from High School? Or that as recently as 1950 75% of the world's population was considered to be living in extreme poverty (that figure is about 10% today)?
Don't believe me? Good, being skeptical is healthy - but you obviously have the same access to the Internet as I do, so look it up. Just don't look it up on a social media platform, 'cause those sites are whack.
Social media is what you make of it, just like watching the news. You can ignore or block a lot of what you want to disregard. The part that you would love is that it has not only connected me with a LOT of old friends, but I have connected with cousins and family members that I would have never even known about. It's been a blessing for me. But I also control it as need be and not let it overwhelm me.
ReplyDeleteThere is that aspect, sure...but as I slowly morph into "You kids get off my lawn!" man, the idea of being able to be connected with more old friends or family members than I already am does nothing but harden my arteries...
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