I don't frankly want to experience my friends’ most intimate and endearing moments" one commercial platforms designed to collect every interaction and sell it so Mark Zuckerburg gets even richer. I'm an active online geek, but when I want to escape from politics and the craziness of the world, I like to do it in a way that involves physical touch, the warmth of a real embrace, eye contact, a nice breeze with the sunset on the patio, a shared meal. These make up my "alternative universe" and I think I will keep it that way.
17
I started filtering out http on my Twitter stream through TweetBot on iOS, it's been amazing, I removed all the tweets that want to show me something. I'm now left with people's thoughts. It's brilliant.
2
Social media has allowed us digital access to the water cooler, the back fence, the old drug store, the town square, the coffee shop, etc -- if ever those locations truly served as spaces to exchange, face to face, gossip and opinions and daily goings-on that kept a community knitted together.
As our communities have grown bigger and less intimate, social media has given us both a real and a false sense of connection - whether with Uncle Tyler or Taylor Swift. We seek meaning, relationship, warmth, and purpose -- a social network gives us just enough of that to keep it (and us) growing, sell stuff, and generate anxiety. Authenticity can be found with or without digital aids -- but it gets harder and harder to tell when the gold vs the iron pyrite is uncovered.
As our communities have grown bigger and less intimate, social media has given us both a real and a false sense of connection - whether with Uncle Tyler or Taylor Swift. We seek meaning, relationship, warmth, and purpose -- a social network gives us just enough of that to keep it (and us) growing, sell stuff, and generate anxiety. Authenticity can be found with or without digital aids -- but it gets harder and harder to tell when the gold vs the iron pyrite is uncovered.
5
There is already no such thing as "news", now it's all about the "narrative".
4
'...you can experience the most intimate and endearing moments of your friends’ and acquaintances’ lives...'
No one wants to, so stop it.
Really, just stop it.
No one wants to, so stop it.
Really, just stop it.
21
The shift from striving for celebrity to having authentic relationships. Wow!
Now that the novelty of devices which enable real-time story-telling by lay-people and the opportunity to be "discovered" has worn off and responsibilities of adult-life are nearly inescapable for the generation spawned by the baby boomers, this shift is not surprising.
Yet, as Instagram and Snapchat are the tools individuals are using to communicate to friends (not necessarily to acquaintances or "friends") and where these individuals are spending time on their devices, that's where the ads are going to be. And the "news" is not "news" in this context -- it is sponsored content. The evolution will continue -- communication network - applications - youngsters sharing without elders listening - hip adults joining in - mass use until ads flood in, etc.
Now that the novelty of devices which enable real-time story-telling by lay-people and the opportunity to be "discovered" has worn off and responsibilities of adult-life are nearly inescapable for the generation spawned by the baby boomers, this shift is not surprising.
Yet, as Instagram and Snapchat are the tools individuals are using to communicate to friends (not necessarily to acquaintances or "friends") and where these individuals are spending time on their devices, that's where the ads are going to be. And the "news" is not "news" in this context -- it is sponsored content. The evolution will continue -- communication network - applications - youngsters sharing without elders listening - hip adults joining in - mass use until ads flood in, etc.
1
I had to get off of social media as it made me realize how much my life sucked. Many of my friends, beautiful people on endless vacations in exotic locales. Nobody seems to work as they are on social media all day tweeting and facebooking from the local hip coffee shop, or out hiking on the local trails. I don't miss the narcissistic people bragging about how wonderful and dynamic they are with their children in Yale or Harvard. My life is simple again without envy and wondering how I might fit in. Life is good again.
17
Extended family...nieces, nephew, sons in law, urged me to join Snapchat so they could include me in their "group". Soon I was seeing pictures of horses, fish, friends of friends I didn't know and darling shots of wee babies. My stay of Snapchat lasted exactly one week. Don't we have anything better to do with our lives than play the voyeur?
18
Blechjt! Remember how fun it was to go your relatives house to watch slides of their vacations or watch their home movies? Give me a discussion about ideas - political or otherwise on FB or elsewhere.
12
This also in line with the trend for people to search for authenticity, and how marketers follow them to try to present their products as authentic (i.e. attempt sell ads on Snapchat or some other new platform).
Of course, once those authentic products or sites go mainstream, and wide group of people anoints something as authentic, the magic is gone and leading edge people move on to the next thing.
It's an endless cycle.
Of course, once those authentic products or sites go mainstream, and wide group of people anoints something as authentic, the magic is gone and leading edge people move on to the next thing.
It's an endless cycle.
5
There are still a large number of websites on which politics and religion are completely banned. The moderators will delete posts and lock threads to enforce this policy, and will eject repeat offenders.
4
Don't people have better things to do with their lives than eaves-dropping? How about a day spent reading a great novel, seeing a good documentary, listening to amazing classical music? What has happened to our "culture"?
42
We want both the mundane and the cultured, the drab and the beautiful. How to attain that dynamic tension? Probably not through one or more apps. Probably through the constant human struggle to be...human.
1
This article actually is about much more than Snapchat. It is about the role of the internet in shaping our very identities. The big point is that where you spend time on the internet affects how you see the world, and by voting with your choice of sites, the internet can be made more salutary.
13
"...a charming alternative universe online — a welcome form of earnest, escapist entertainment that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside..."
Escapism is sometimes desirable...although the "Ignorance is bliss" mentality, like drugs or alcohol, only helps one remain dead to the rest of the world for a short time.
Escapism is sometimes desirable...although the "Ignorance is bliss" mentality, like drugs or alcohol, only helps one remain dead to the rest of the world for a short time.
I honestly don't get the appeal of social media. Just go out and live for real. Am I going to spend my time being anxious or envious or feeling inadequate about other people's photographs? No way. No one is going to be on there deathbed regretting not having spent more time online. What are we doing with our lives?!
40
When you are unable to engage with friends and family in real-time as you suggest (because of time, geography, or any other reason), social media connections are an inadequate but accessible replacement. They allow you to remain aware of developments in others' lives (the envy is your own issue) and connect with the about what's happening.
8
Think of social media as similar to commenting on a newspaper article. Why talk about it online, when you could be discussing it (and your points of view) with friends, family and neighbors?
1
In those cases, I prefer to use a one-on-one personal exchange like a video call, versus posting for random audiences and the well-being of the platforms, who want to make money off of my relationships.
3
While greater intimacy may be a welcome feature of Snapchat and Instagram stories, what I hate the most about all social media and increasingly about Facebook are the ads. It seems there are more and more of them and as the scholars say, the commodification of every aspect of our lives grows and grows. Not good for the soul or world peace!
18