Is Social Media addictive? I'm beginning to think so. I mean, it's not THAT bad.... yet. It's not like I can't walk away from the keyboard any time I choose. Hmmm, wait a minute. I wonder if I really can?Walk away that is. Like if I really had something important to do, I'm sure I could push the keyboard aside and take care of whatever it is I need to get done first, then resume whatever I was doing prior to the interruption. Did I just say interruption? That almost makes it sound like my regular life is getting in the way of my life on the Internet.
Is it possible to have two separate lives, one online and one off? Come to think of it, that already sounds weird to think about even having an online life. Well, maybe not that weird. I mean, basically everything that you need to do these days can be done on the computer. From Banking to paying bills, buying shoes to books, food to furniture, it's just about all online now. In fact, there's pretty much nothing you can't do on the computer these days.
So I guess it's not that crazy to think that you can conduct an entire life online. Heck, look at all the Dating Sites that are available. If you spent enough time on them (which no doubt I'll get into in another Post), without a doubt you'd be able to find a spouse.
I guess about the only thing you can't actually 'buy' online is a ready made family, complete with kids and a dog but who knows, just by me typing that it could give someone an idea to start up a new Site called "Efamily.com". I have learned to never say never when it comes to the Internet.
And you can count me among them, just think of all the Bloggers out there in the Blogosphere. Sure, most of the Blogs have been taken over by BlogBots and are no longer manned by real humanoids but there are still many many Blogs whos content is updated weekly, if not daily, by real live people with lots to say.
And so that leads us to the basis of this Post, Social Media as it's come to be known. I'd have to think that most everyone is familiar with the "Big Three", namely Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. YouTube could also be considered amongst them as well, as far as popularity is concerned but it's more of a place to post videos than an actual interactive socializing Site.
While there are literally hundreds of "Social Sites", according to the Alexa Rankings, those are currently the most popular. Perhaps not in that order, I haven't checked lately but as far as I know, there aren't any others in the same Ballpark.
MySpace seemed to be where all this online socializing really got started. If you're like me, I always thought it was just a place for kids to hang out online, and perhaps it was in the beginning but no doubt it grew to be a place where people, young and old, from around the globe are able to coexist and e~mingle whenever they want to.
Over the last year or so, MySpace seems to have fallen out of favor in the online world. Not exactly sure as to why. I guess, like all things trendy, what's IN one minute can just as easily be OUT the next. I myself enjoyed MySpace but to be honest, it was mainly because the creativity that it offered regarding the customization of your profile page was a huge attraction to me.
In fact, I spent more time on there tweaking my profile than I actually did interacting with anyone. I started on there as a recomendation from a friend as she knew I was in search of a blogging platform and at the time, it afforded me a small place to share my stuff.
I will say though that I met some great (and some not so great) people on that Site. Now, when I say met, I mean that in the online sense as I never actually met them in person. Two people stand out to me more than ever and if it wasn't for my time on MS, I never would have met them and so overall, I have very fond memories of that Site.
I tend to refer to it in the past tense as even though I still have my profile page there, I very rarely visit the Site. As we all know, Social Media can take up so much time and like they say, "So many Sites, so little time", or something like that.
I'm not entirely sure if I moved on to Twitter next or not. I believe I started my Facebook page before Twitter but I never added any content, let alone visited FB with any regularity. At that time I was putting more effort into building up my list of Followers on Twitter.
I was considering getting into Internet Marketing and the number one priority (or so I was told) was to build a list and so that's what I did. I believe I've been on there about eight or nine months, created a few different profiles (in an effort to target different niches) and I probably have a minimum of 25K followers. To some, that might sound like alot but there are so many people with so many more followers than that.
As I gravitated away from the Internet Marketing idea, I have spent less and less time on that Site. To be honest, I never really got it. I mean, it's a zillion little 140 character blurbs from random people, coming at you shotgun style and nearly impossible to keep up or keep track of anything that's going on.
Especially since all of the SpamBots started taking over. Word got out that somehow Twitter was a gold mine for monetized traffic and next thing you know, it became flooded with every piece of software which would allow all these rookie spammers to flood the Site every second with Biz Opp after Biz Opp.
Of course, that's in addition to all the Porn Chicks tryin' to get you to check them out on their Sites (which will require you to Sign In) and when you add in all of the fake profiles, it's pretty much a non stop roulette wheel of who knows what. I still go there once in a while to share my Blog Posts but that's about it.
Since I've spent less time on Twitter, it's allowed me to spend a bit more time on Facebook. Now, what's really strange about that is the fact that FB held the least amount of allure for me. I mean, talk about a boring looking profile page. With almost zero customizability (is that even a word?), it's not the most attractive place to hang out.
That's the main thing that I miss about MySpace. At least people were able to show a bit of their personality, who they are on their profile, which I really liked. Facebook is more or less devoid of personality, pretty much Plain Jane as it were. But I guess that doesn't matter to most people. Apparently just being able to interact with people around the world is enough of an attraction.
So what then, is the huge attraction to Facebook. They recently reached over 500 Million users and when you consider that the population of the United States is just over 300 Million, that truly speaks volumes about the attraction of the Internet and the Social Media Sites.
In fact, Facebook is the number two most visited Site, both Globally and in the United States. The only Site with more traffic is Google. That's pretty strong in anybodys book. How long will this last? It's anybodys guess but there's no denying their presence on the Net.
Is that what draws so many people in? They want to be part of something bigger than themselves, they have a need to belong? It's anybodys guess. I'm sure that lots of them just want to interact with friends and family while others want to branch out, meet new friends and still others are only there for business reasons. Whatever your reason, it's hard to deny the fact that once you Log In, it's next to impossible to Log Out!
That feeling that you're missing something, that someone could be trying to contact you but can't because you're not logged in, that you aren't keepin' up with what's going on in the world just continually gnaws at you. I'm sure you've experienced the feeling, your computer continues to call out to you.
Log In.....Log In.....It's OK, it will only be for a couple minutes, then I'll let you go.....go back to whatever you were SUPPOSED to be doing.....just Log In.....it will be ok.....I promise.....walk towards the light.....this way.....towards the light of the Monitor.....
Next thing you know, you're back in your chair, computer sparkling to life and then it's www...Fac.... NO, I CAN'T DO THIS! Not today, I have so much I need to get done. maybe later....but NOT now. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But no matter how much you struggle against The Force, it's just too strong, the urge is just too much to resist and so you figure, what the heck, why fight it. Then you pour yourself a cup of coffee and settle in because you and I both know that you're going to be in that chair for quite a while.
And so this brings me back to my original point. Is Social Media addicting in any way. I mean, there's no denying the attraction (no, not the Law Of Attraction) to these Sites but is it truly impossible for us to say NO or at this point, are we slaves to the Social Media Secret Sauce?
I sure hope not because as far as I know, there isn't a 12 Step Program, no Big Book, no Meetings, no pills, potions or lotions yet invented to prevent me from following the light....the light of my Monitor.
If you think that you might be addicted to Social Media or perhaps you're lucky enough to be able to just walk away from your keyboard, I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts and if you enjoyed this post, I'd appreciate it if you'd share it with all your friends on the Social Media Sites. Not that you're addicted and spend alot of time on them, only in your spare time.
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