Social Media or Social Addiction?

Hello bloggies, writers, readers, friends, family, and innocent people that have found this blog.  Social media is a bunch of phooey!  It is akin to a highly addictive drug like caffeine and nicotine, and frankly, goes very well with both of those.  So for fear that you will get addicted, I challenge you to limit yourself to five minutes of Facebook, one game of Words with Friends, and 2 cups of decaf coffee a day.  If this is not enough for you, continue reading.
For those that need more information, like my curious and tech savvy readers, you already know social media is a term for Internet websites that allow for the exchange of information.  Each website can be used for the exchange of social communication, business networking, or sharing of general ideas depending on their design.  This is a jejune explanation because it really isn't any more complicated than it sounds.  There is no more mystery to a social media website than your own online banking, and new social media websites seeking members pop up ever week!

Remember the first time you heard of MySpace?  I contemplated it for several years before I actually logged on and created my own account.  After the account was created, I freaked out and immediately closed my account.  Putting myself out there like that, even my name, was too much of an intrusion, even for this extrovert.  Then, came along Facebook.  Facebook seemed a little more mature and would limit some one's ability to get too outlandish with the wallpaper, music, etc. I decided I could handle Facebook.  After creating my own account I received the requisite friend request from the creator of Facebook, long before I new he was going to be Time Magazine's "Man of the Year."  Again, that horrible feeling of being violated overwhelmed me.  Who was this guy, how did he know who I was, and why did he want to be my friend?  I freaked out just short of calling the FCC.  Fortunately, a kind friend advised me of who Tom was and not to worry, I was not being stalked by a stranger on the Internet, nor did I have to go on a date with him.

Looking back on my first experience with Facebook, I'm glad it was not around when I was a teenager.  There would be entirely too much information that I would have to remove before the new Timeline format set in. 

However, social media has changed many of us including many close-minded introverts.  As many of you know, I am connected with you and others through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Blogspot, WordPress, Pinterest, Instant Messenger (wow that's old), FourSquare, Skype, listserves, etc.  It's absolutely ridiculous and that is why I think it is phooey in my opinion.  Someone called me today to tell me she was in my neighborhood and would love to see me.  That is what I call a friend.  We are missing out on so many wonderful experiences people!  Now instead of being assaulted by a salesperson selling copiers at your office, you are pounded by their friend requests, invitations and emails.  That's okay though because you can hide behind your computer screen with your delete button.  But for the "social" aspect of it, are we deleting our human side?  How about our ability to be personable and communicate with each other mano y mano?

Picture yourself as follows:  pajamas on, fake firelog ablaze, wireless modem buzzing, and laptop in your lap, duh.  You are on MySpace, SpaceJunkey, JunkeyMonkey, Facebook, FaceTime, MyFace, SpaceJunkie, PajamaTime, PinItToMe, and on and on.  But what do you really get out of all that?  I can tell you exactly what you receive in return for your diligence in keeping up with LinkedIn, LinkedSquare, ComputerSquared, Flicker, Finger, and Shuttered . . . . 15 unwanted pounds, overweight pets, numb fingertips, a stinky house, dirty laundry, and no dates.  You may start secretly wanting someone to stalk you on the Internet because that is all you have left. 

Do you want a bunch of phooey or do you want to have a life?  Do you really gain anything out of knowing that your Aunt Effie just got home from her colonoscopy and things are moving much better?  I will admit, some social media is fun.  But just as a parent limits the hours a child can watch television or what kind of programming, so should you limit yourself in your social media.  I'm pretty sure new diseases will develop and ultimately be identified from the abusive and over use of social media.  I can see it now:  Socialitis requiring a social mediaectomy.  This is the fear of backing away from your computer and turning off your smart phone and actually talking to a live human being.  I can't imagine what the withdrawals will be like and if morphine will even work. 

Well, it is a free country and I will try to focus on the more positive aspects of social media.  Maybe it is so strong it can bring about less fighting, less car accidents, less crime.  People will be too lazy to do anything other than posting about their bunions. 

In reality, social media is incredibly simple but yet powerful.  Never underestimate the consequences of posting pictures from your Weird Science high school party 20 years ago.  If used in a positive manner, you can increase contacts, increase sales, find people, get help with something, and get motivated.  You have to weed through all the phooey to get to the meat and potatoes of what is good.  Don't get distracted by Tom from Facebook, people tweeting, twitting and twatting.  Step away from the phooey and lay the cigarettes down.

Either way, I hope you continue to at least enjoy my blog, make comments, and stay connected.  Now go out and enjoy yourself.

carpe diem

My Hearing Aid is in The Printer!

"My hearing aid is in the printer" is not exactly what a person expects to wake up hearing first thing in the morning.  It's cold, you are wet from the shower, have no clothing on yet, can't be late to work, and the old person in the house has already been up since 5:30 in the morning waiting.  Now you have to figure out how to remove a hearing aid from the printer.  

Life is full of curve balls and as we age, new and unexpected curve balls arise.  Aging is the reverse of puberty, and comedians have been making fun of both for centuries.  Are you experiencing stiffness in your joints, muscle weakness, saggy skin, blurry eyesight, raspy vocals, gray hair?  If so, you are falling apart or you are aging and it's not really funny.  So, it's necessary to have empathy for the older folks in our lives.  They used to be as vibrant and cellulite free as we are today.  Who knows what is actually rattling around in their brains, but I'm sure they are not expecting to drop something in the sink, the toilet or the printer.  If you have a big heart and are caring for an elderly family member and hear things like, "I fell in the toilet, can you help me out please", you deserve a gold medal. Especially if you wipe.

Aside from the potential for injury from a toilet fall, you have to consider things that could really cause life-threatening injuries to the elderly you care for and those around them. For instance, steps anywhere, dancing poles that were installed in your house in the 80's or 90's, glass and metal coffee tables, small pets, and of course cars. When your elderly guest walks out to their car numerous times in a ten minute period to look for his pillow and blanket, further consideration to hiding the keys should be taken. Black eyes, broken glass, squished puppies and wrecked cars are not good for the soul. If the elderly cannot remember how to defrost the windows in their gigantic Ford LTD, it is likely they are not going to remember which lever is the gear shift and which one is the blinker!  A Smart car may not fare well against a Ford LTD doing 45 miles per hour through an intersection.

If you wake up with beautiful peace and quiet in the mornings, and never hear the sound of a garage door crashing in because your grandfather missed the brake peddle, then you are lucky.  And since all you have to worry about is your own aging; fear not, there are life-changing, confidence altering products and procedures at every turn.  For instance, there are:  non-surgical face lifts, teeth implants, hair plugs, liposuction, scores of supplements, creams and concoctions, Viagra, permanent makeup, singles clubs for those over 55, and Florida, where everyone has the same hairdo and a Ford LTD. So do not despair. 

If you are in despair, read this paragraph.  There was a recent story on NPR about a female author who decided it was time to die and killed herself.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate the story or the name of the author, but I vividly recall the interview with her daughter.  The daughter relayed her mother's decision years before her death (like an army of authors before her) that at some point in her life, her life would have no point and she would kill herself.  She did not want to burden her family, and at the age of 70, was going to off herself.  Well, her family worried for years while waiting with anticipation, and fortunately, at the age of 70, she changed her mind.  Seven years later, after writing a book about aging, she finally followed through on her promise while her family was not expecting it, and killed herself.  As much as it may be a weenie move and inconsiderate, it can also be perceived as a bold move and considerate.  Nobody has to take her car away, rearrange their home and furniture, hide the Chihuahua to avoid its early accidental demise, or dig a hearing aid out of a printer. 

Do you consider that a bold move or is it so Virginia Woolf?  Is there really a right way to do die and a wrong way to die?  Either way, someone is going to be upset, but you know the saying, "You cannot make everybody happy all of the time."  Tacky I know, but it is just one of many catch 22's we find ourselves in through life.  It's just an option.

Instead of suicide, aging gracefully, peacefully, and accepting the weaknesses we will experience seems easier in the end.  Getting our brains to cooperate will make aging even more peaceful and pleasant.  Keeping my hopes up as I plan to visit my grandmother for her 101st birthday without my Chihuahua . . . Carpe Diem!