I am just saying I came from a world of card catalogues in draws at the library (now my daughter asks me to type in keywords) and listening in on a variety of intelligent conversations on college campuses (now everyone walks around talking on cell phones). My daughters will never know the world I came from. Before she was two, my oldest could use the mouse and play computer games. We Skype. They talk to their cousin on my cell phone.... Sigh. Some days I feel like moving us to Costa Rica and living the life of no electricity and hot water.
So here is my list of the top ten fears I have of social media:
10. The undesired invasion of privacy.
9. My daughters' identities and whereabouts will be pinpointed by a lunatic.
8. Years from now I'll regret the time I've wasted on social media.
7. Younger generations will write in 'text' format on job applications and college papers, thinking it's okay.
6. My productivity as a writer has decreased.
5. Replacing the possibility to build real relationships with real people.
4. Finding out that some of my 'friends' through social media are not really who they say they are.
3. Relying too heavily on the instant gratification from online life and expecting it in my offline life.
2. My daughters major method of communication will be isolating despite becoming more global.
1. My daughters may be bullied or hurt in some way.
Social media adds one more (a big one) challenge in the world of parenting, but also to my personal world. Finding and maintaining a balance isn't so difficult for me, but I wonder how hard it will be for my children.
3 comments:
Exactly. You read my post on why I gave up a medium I was using multiple times a day. It sucked all my time when my time really needed to be focused elsewhere. I've thought about dropping blogging - I've even written my final post a few times in my head. But I can't do it. I go through spurts where I have zero desire to write or read blogs and I'm learning to respect that desire and just go with it. My 9 yr old has an iPod touch and my 5 yr old is always asking to play angry birds. Even now I'm typing from my phone.
I can see the benefit of going back in time and most days I'd be happy to plunk down my own hut right next to yours in the rainforest.
Ah, that would be awesome to have all of these mommy retreat huts in a row in the rainforest where we could grieve together no electricity and then come away from it feeling so much better :)
Thank you for your post about Twitter, it did inspire this one! Social media is the talk on blogs and sites and I'm trying to wrap my head around how I feel about it, since it's here to stay.
3, 6, and 8 are big concerns for me... but all of your points are valid and they have crossed my mind at one time or another. It's becoming reality, but we can try to be smart about it. We can learn to manage it, and evolve with it. I don't want to be in my 80s shaking my head at what the world has come to. I hope I can continue to grow along with it. Easier said than done! :)
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