WEEK 2 BLOG
I
have heard many stories of how social media has helped and enhanced people’s
lives. I’ve seen first-hand how social media has brought people together; I’ve
also seen how disputes have been started and feelings have been hurt because of
this media platform. I can and do appreciate the good and bad that this
platform offers, I chose not to put my time or energy into any of these
platforms. It’s a conscience choice I’ve made in my life at this time. Here’s
some of my reasoning; I choose to put my energy into face to face contact with
people, call family and friends and have real conversations and use the
computer and phone as tools. This does not mean I don’t send emails or text, I
do quite often, however, I truly enjoy talking to and getting together with my
crazy family and friends. That connection and memories are so very precious and
important.
I
have a large family and I’m truly blessed with friendships I’ve had for long
periods of time. These people keep my grounded and remind me I’m a sister,
mother, daughter-in-law, cousin and aunt. Because of my personality I need
these people, I need the connection and I need to see them often. I like the
fact that they’ve seen my worst and still love me, I like the fact I don’t have
to pretend, I don’t have to be ‘polished’, at this time in my life I don’t feel
I get this type of intimate engagement on a social media platform.
To me
the computer is a tool as well as my phone, I truly don’t enjoy spending time
on either of them. My middle daughter did create a Facebook page for me in
hopes I would use it, I tried, I lost interest in it almost immediately. She
then created a Snapchat account for me, I again tried it for a short time and
again lost interest in it and really felt I would rather spend my energy in
seeing my family and creating memories with them. In truth I do have a
Pinterest login, somehow my youngest daughter figured out a way for me to
follow her. Again, I use Pinterest as a tool for patterns or to learn a new
skill.
I
belong to a few groups that meet monthly and we talk about a very broad array
of topics, I absolutely love it! At this point and time, I just don’t want to
spend my energy on social media platforms. If I want to know something I’ll
research what I want to know, if I want to ask questions of a person I’ll call
them, text or get together with them.
Sherry
Turkle’s TedTalk was so spot on! As our children were growing and the internet was
becoming more and more of a ‘thing’ we made some decisions early on. For
example, our computer has always been in our family room, dinner as a family
meant NO electronics and we didn’t have cable for our T.V. Of course as our family was growing up my husband
and I had to really make sure we were consistent with these rules, and make
sure family time was electronic free. Fast forward about fifteen years, our
children, grandchildren, husband and I were at a restaurant together and my
phone goes off I reach down to answer a text. All together I get dirty looks
and reminded that there is NO cellphones at the table! They were right and I
was busted. It’s been amazing to watch my children raising their children with
these same safe guards. They’re instilling the same notion of how important it
is to laugh, cook, eat and really connect with one another without electronics.
Don’t
get me wrong, getting texts from my granddaughter saying hello and she loves me
puts me on cloud nine! Having my grandkids call me (hopefully with parent
approval) to just chat makes me tear up, I love these connections with them.
With anything, there needs to be moderation and this moderation needs to be
taught and we need to be the example.
I am
an amazing procrastinator, if there was a degree in it I’d have a doctorate.
Having games on my phone is a very bad thing for me. Just recently I caught
myself losing two hours playing Tetris instead of doing school work, the game
was deleted quickly. For this reason, I have one game on my phone, Pokémon Go.
This is a game I play with my family and husband. My husband and I walk, talk
and play together almost every night when he gets home from work. This game has
allowed me to connect with my grandsons and talk to them about it. I spend
about twelve to fifteen hours a week playing. I’ve gone out with a few of my
kids and grandkids and done a Pokémon walk, I had to laugh when my
seven-year-old grandson was explaining to me about catching a certain Pokémon. Then
of course he demonstrated his strategy. Because of the game Michael and I have
gotten to know our community and lovely people in our community. My husband and
I use the time to connect, exercise and blow off steam.
At
this juncture of my life social media and most games online hold no interest
for me. I am apart of different groups that meet regularly and have tons of
contact with family and friends. I use my computer and phone as tools to
enhance my reality. I do feel I’m informed and when I want to know more about
something I do my own research and seek counsel from the people around me. This
may change in the future; I may reactivate my Facebook page or join an online
group for gaming. There are some very real and positive aspects to each of
these platforms. Right now my reality is they don’t interest me, I don’t want
to make the time to be in front of a screen and I love getting together with my
peeps for a good meal, coffee or a walk.
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