Take a look around you right now. How many people are checking their phones? How many people are sitting with a laptop in front of them?
Most of the people you have just looked at probably have at least one, if not two technology products with them. We have, in my opinion, become stuck in a rut with technology. We are forever checking our phone for any emails, messages, Facebook notifications, mentions on Twitter and likes on Instagram, all while we are sitting in the company of friends. Yes, that’s right. Our friends are sitting right next to us and yet we feel the need to dismiss them and choose to check in with social media instead.
I find it annoying and quite frankly rude when I arrange to meet up with friends and when we finally do meet for coffee or lunch they take out their phone and place it on the table. It’s as though they are afraid that they may miss a very important notification telling them a friend of a friend that they met two years ago liked a drunken photo of them on Facebook.
I find it even more bizarre that people find it necessary to sit and watch TV accompanied by their smart phone, iPad and laptop. Why do you need all three when you have chosen to watch Eastenders, are you going to tweet about it on all three devices?!
Don’t get me wrong, I think social media is great. There are a lot of advantages to being LinkedIn or on Twitter. As a broadcast journalism student, I have found that social media can be a great help when trying to complete assignments. My concern is that some people have taken it too far. But how far is too far? I’ve looked at the advantages and disadvantages of three social media apps I might find on your smart phone.
Since Mark Zuckerburg launched Facebook, it now has over one billion users worldwide and this is set to continue growing. Facebook is great for connecting with friends, your university course and societies you have joined. I personally like it because you can upload and share photos with your friends from nights out and holidays you went on together. But more and more I have become irritated by the amount of people who find it necessary to share what they just ate for lunch or how long it took them to walk to uni in the snow. Furthermore, I’ve found that every time I log on I am greeted by numerous invites to nights out in my hometown that I’ve never heard of, let alone think about going to. Overall, although it can sometimes annoy me, I don’t think I’ll be getting rid of it anytime soon.
This is going to be fairly biased because I cannot get enough of Twitter. Whether you want to follow film stars, musicians, DJs, your friends, sports personalities or news broadcasters, it’s got something for everyone. You can gain an insight into the lives of actresses whose wardrobes you envy, or find out which footballer is transferring where. For my course, it’s exceptionally good for sending out journalism requests in the hope that a case study may come forward and help you out with a project. I also love it because I can follow fashion designers and models to see how they are preparing for fashion shows and what I can expect from their latest ad campaigns or summer collections. The only downside to Twitter for me, is probably that you can’t share photos as easily on Facebook and the fact that you only have 140 characters to message your friends, which is where Facebook chat comes in handy.
The most recent addition to the world of social media is Instagram. Dubbed as a place where people take and post photos of their lunch to share with the world, I was a bit cautious when I joined. But I actually really like it. Like Twitter I follow a number of celebrities and fashion houses to find out what’s going on in the world of fashion but it has also allowed me to find cool fashion blogs as well. But I’m not just about fashion. I also like following the travel blog photos, which lets me view places that I can only dream of visiting one day. Of course, you can also follow your friends on here too so you don’t miss out on those drunken nights out or cheesy holiday snaps! Again, this is a pretty cool app to have but I feel like just sharing your photos isn’t enough. You miss out on the chat element and it’s not as exclusive or private as Facebook which can raise concerns for some people.
Ok, so you probably think I’m addicted to social media now I’ve admitted that I love the three apps discussed above and you might be right. But by using social media in moderation and for the right reasons, they can be very useful. As long as you’re not comparing your lunch to Rihanna’s on Instagram I think you’re safe. But just think for a second the next time you’re with your friends and you go to check your phone – is the company of social media really better than that of your friends? I’m guessing not.
Images Sources:
http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1536126.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Facebook+Image
http://cdni.wired.co.uk/273×178/s_v/twitter_273x178.jpg
http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8424450.ece/ALTERNATES/w460/Instagram.jpg