Is SoMe killing us softly with it’s words?
Struming my pain with his fingers
singing my life with his words
killing me softy with his song
killing me softly with his song
telling my whole life
with his words
killing me softly with his song
Notice I ain’t blogged for ages. I think I was suffering with what Cammy Bean highlighted this week as SoMeFat. Social Media Fatigue. or was it really SoMeBo? Social Media Burn Out?
It prompted me to ask myself some questions about my own changing patterns of use of Social Media in the last year.
In October 09 on this blog I asked ‘How many tweets make overload?’ How much are we actually learning or are we kidding ourselves that it is learning. Are we just spending every moment in the electronic Hyde Park Corner listening to others bleating on about what interests them? Or in real terms not even bleating about their likes, but the likes of others, the RT?
I took some time to recover from the shock of reality some time ago and realised I was spending far too much time blogging, tweeting and facebooking everything in my life that actually was none of your business. Did I need to share the fact I just had a great poop? (not that I shared that information) Why would I want you to know that i was stuck in traffic on the M4 and using my phone illegally? Why would I want to tell you that I was going to the theatre tonight. (only really interesting to you if it was your intention to burgle my holiday home in Wales… No I don’t have a holiday home in Wales and were you interested in that information?)
Hey, why am I writing this blog now? Are you interested? Will you comment on it? Do I care if you don’t… hell yes!
I think we are all suffering from a new form of hysteria, defined as ‘A mental disorder characterised by emotional excitability’. We all get excited when we tweet, blog or f/book and even more so when we are re-tweeted or commented on. And we are all doing it together all the time, while we pretend we are learning something, other than what time John on the next continent to us put his cat out!
The more we do this, the more we get into Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, we want to do it more and more until we actually are doing no work, have no real social ability to talk to one another unless it’s in 140 characters or are repeating someone else’s thoughts or views. Have you noticed the distinct lack of new papers being written or published on groundbreaking learning ideas? Its because we have no time.
So time to reconsider SoMe, how to limit how we use it, limit how we teach our children to use it. Watch the next time their phone goes ‘ding’, it is the new fastest thing known to man, the time it takes between phone going ‘ding’ and clicking send on a response to the sender.
For me the new So for 2011 is meeting people, chatting on the phone or in person and getting a real ‘Social’ back into my life. I will still Tweet and Blog but far less. Care to join me……
Steve Howard, and 1 other are discussing. 
Neil Lasher 
Neil 12:13 on January 6, 2011 Permalink |
I just thought I would comment just to make sure someone did…
Does this feed my own compulsive disorder of needing the recognition.. LOL
Steve Howard 07:02 on January 7, 2011 Permalink |
Work forced me to cut back on SoMe early last year. I’ve turned into a consumer more than a contributer, something that’s not been true for over a decade.
I hate it – I feel like I am missing so much friendship and information. And yet, in a way, I enjoy the freedom, as I no longer feel compelled to “be social” 24/7.
From a learning and professional growth perspective, I want to me more involved in SoMe. I just learn so damned much when I have the time to follow every interesting link. Yet, from a personal perspective, after a dozen years or more of intense social interaction, I think I was burnt out and, like Ross and Rachael, I needed a break. I’m hoping that I can get back up to speed in the next few months, but I have a notion that my corner of the world will not collapse if I continue on SoMe tickover for a more protracted period.
Maritza 07:03 on January 7, 2011 Permalink |
I think you’re going through a typical phase of user adoption behaviour of any new technology. I was there about a year ago myself. I wanted to switch off practically every social media tool that I was using, and I went on a 30-day sabbatical from Facebook specifically.
In the process I learnt a few things about myself, and how I want to use social media (or not). Afterwards, I adjusted a few things and I’m now much happier with the balance I achieved.
Also, for me, social media are just the spark to connect with people. It’s the meetings and conversations that happen directly or privately that turn those initial, brief contacts into something lasting or worthwhile. Pretty much every connection I’ve made in 15 years of online activity that became more than just a ship passing in the night, has been followed by personal interaction at some level.
Oh, and thanks for the follow on Twitter. 🙂
Scott Hewitt 08:36 on January 7, 2011 Permalink |
Social Media can be very effective for learning but the sheer amount of information that we receive from all media channels can be over-whelming. It is very easy to be distracted by the last linkedin notification, tweet, email ping, facebook email, text etc… Learning how to get the most of social media is the challenge and not being managed by it. The Tim Ferris book – 4 hour week (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/) has some great ideas about how he did it!