A little poem, to capture the stress of the holiday season–and every other season–on social media. I tried to match the rhythm to the incessant nature of the subject matter. Enjoy and thanks for coming by to read!
Entirely too much time on Twitter;
Ingesting, excessively, Instagram;
Linking-in links in a chain of glitter;
Facing off Facebook with who I am;
Nearly collapsing the apps that grasp me;
Ceaselessly seeking release and fun;
Comparing my perils and flukes and foibles;
Endlessly friending, till day is done;
Plenty will view and believe my profile;
Plenty will rate me with five gold stars;
But amidst all this dizzying image spinning,
I haven’t a notion of who they are.
Copyright 2019 Andrea LeDew
For another poem about social media and our addiction to it, read Rabbit Hole.
Your poem captures the stress of social media very effectively.
Thank you Liz. It can be overwhelming, juggling both the real and the virtual world at once.
I recently heard someone refer to the “gamification” of social media, the idea that like a video game or gambling, social media contains its own built-in rewards, that keep you playing. The pressure to stay in the game, to protect your winnings, so to speak, is very high.
People of a certain age are probably more aware of their own predilections and vanities and can recognize, when a game has the effect of manipulating their actions.
But children and the young may not see any harm in it, since it is the very air they breathe.
I remember reading an article a few years ago that social media deliberately works on principles of operant conditioning to keep us seeking that reward (similar to the gamification concept). That really brought me up short! I’m not a pigeon. I’m a sentient human being.
Its a bit creepy for sure. The problem is, our use of media is taking the place of so many necessary human-to-human interactions, that it’s darn near impossible to escape it altogether.
And with the carrot comes the stick.
Love getting your feedback, Liz!
That pretty much sums it up! Twitter holds no appeal to me and I’ve resisted IG so far, although I’d probably enjoy it to some extent.
Thanks Brad! I think all social media has its plusses and minuses. Sometimes its hard to tell who’s running the show–we humans, or the algorithm. 😊
I pretty much don’t get Instagram. My meals are largely unphotogenic, and my dog is lazy.
Instagram is very visual and reminds me a lot of pinterest, although the images seem to be used more for communication or persuasion than for cataloguing.
I am partial to the stunning photography but turned off if the content turns too sentimental, like a card, trying to cheer you up.
For some uses, like keeping track of plants or other interests, visual media can be very informative and helpful as well as inspirational.
I could see that. I just don’t have anything to communicate visually on a regular basis.
I’ve been on Facebook almost 14 years. I used to find it soul-crushing; I’d often feel terrible about my life after spending time on it. Now I keep my use of it to a minimum, while trying to balance the pluses and minuses. I still feel some pernicious effects, but I also feel like I’m in control most of the time.
Thanks for sharing your experience Brad. These new modes of communication make connection possible over distance in ways we never imagined could be possible. But they also enable intrusion and threaten privacy in ways we never imagined. Like most tools, they can be used for good or evil. Sounds like you’ve managed to strike a healthy balance. 😊