Facebook, Twitter, et al........or not?

[mickey1952]

There's just something about putting it all out there on social media that makes me shudder. I guess I'm sort of the private type anyway, but I just can't seem to see myself sharing most, if not all, of my life online. Besides, who cares if I burned dinner last night; or had my vacuum blow up and have to go out and buy a new one; or hung some new pictures in the living room. I'm not on Facebook, I don't tweet, and I don't feel deprived in the least. Anyone else on the same page?

 

P.S. I really did hang some new pictures in my living room this morning.. Aren't you glad you know? Oh crap!! I'm getting sucked in, aren't I?

Edited November 3, 2013 by mickey1952

[MikeL]

I'm with you, Mickey.  If you value your privacy at all, stay away from the social networks.  Communicate the important things to your real friends.  Let the rest of the world guess.

[rustle]

It takes a certain type of courage to live your life "out there". Some do it out of ego. Some do it to become shills for their latest activity or for others.

 

I have a Facebook account, but use it more to keep up with friends and share info we might all be interested in. I've screened out all of the folks who post pictures of their lunch, and I limit posts to things I think somebody might care to know or enjoy. It's no different than carrying on a conversation over a meal.

 

Who sees the stuff I post? Mostly, friends in real life, but I keep in mind that it's all out there, ready to be forwarded.

[Breeze]

I have facebook, but I have always maintained that "if you don't want the rest of the world to know, don't post". I never assume that only the people I want to see it, are going to see my post. However I don't feel compelled to let everyone how laundry day is going either lol.

[Thorn Wilde]

I'm pretty active on social media, actually. I've lived in a lot of different places and have friends all over the world, so I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends I otherwise wouldn't be able to keep up with or talk to very often. On Thursday, I had dinner with an really old friend in Copenhagen (we've known each other since we were 8), and I wouldn't even have known that she lives there now if it hadn't been for Facebook, because she moved to another country when we were about ten years old. So that's handy. And I use Twitter to keep up with the news and with politics and musicians and writers I really like. It's an excellent platform for activism, and for communicating with people who otherwise travel in different spheres. Of course I get a kick out of having Neil Gaiman reply to one of my tweets (and it's happened more than once). I don't know if that's me feeding my ego or just me enjoying the fact that I'm living in an age where this kind of communication is even possible.

 

But the fact that I'm so public on twitter and facebook is exactly why I started using this handle a few years ago. It grants me a degree of anonymity that I'm very comfortable with. Only a handful of people can connect Thorn Wilde with real life me, and that's the way I like it. There are many people I know out there in the real world who wouldn't be comfortable with my writing, and while I don't hide who I am from my friends there are battles that I'd rather not fight unless I have to. 

[mickey1952]

I'm pretty active on social media, actually. I've lived in a lot of different places and have friends all over the world, so I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends I otherwise wouldn't be able to keep up with or talk to very often. On Thursday, I had dinner with an really old friend in Copenhagen (we've known each other since we were 8), and I wouldn't even have known that she lives there now if it hadn't been for Facebook, because she moved to another country when we were about ten years old. So that's handy. And I use Twitter to keep up with the news and with politics and musicians and writers I really like. It's an excellent platform for activism, and for communicating with people who otherwise travel in different spheres. Of course I get a kick out of having Neil Gaiman reply to one of my tweets (and it's happened more than once). I don't know if that's me feeding my ego or just me enjoying the fact that I'm living in an age where this kind of communication is even possible.

 

But the fact that I'm so public on twitter and facebook is exactly why I started using this handle a few years ago. It grants me a degree of anonymity that I'm very comfortable with. Only a handful of people can connect Thorn Wilde with real life me, and that's the way I like it. There are many people I know out there in the real world who wouldn't be comfortable with my writing, and while I don't hide who I am from my friends there are battles that I'd rather not fight unless I have to.

 

You've made a very credible argument, Thorne. I still don't think it's for me but I can see some of your points. I guess it's the inane, mundane silly little things I hear about lots of people posting that makes me wonder about it all. Thanks for a different perspective. Edited November 3, 2013 by mickey1952

[rustle]

But the fact that I'm so public on twitter and facebook is exactly why I started using this handle a few years ago. It grants me a degree of anonymity that I'm very comfortable with. Only a handful of people can connect Thorn Wilde with real life me, and that's the way I like it.

 

You mean that's not your real name?

[Thorn Wilde]

You've made a very credible argument, Thorne. I still don't think it's for me but I can see some of your points. I guess it's the inane, mundane silly little things I hear about lots of people posting that makes me wonder about it all. Thanks for a different perspective.

 

Oh god, yes, the mundane things. That's the part I really don't like. I think mums on Facebook are among my least favourite things. Not all of them, but you do get the ones who are like, 'My baby just pooped! Isn't he precious????' and you're like, ew. I generally post about concerts I go to, people I've met, how I'm doing on a deeper level, and I share links to music, videos, news stories, funny pictures... Basically the same as I do here, only under a different name.

 

You mean that's not your real name?

 

Maybe it is. Maybe I just said that to throw you off the scent.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[rustle]

"Poop" and "scent" should not appear in the same post. ewww, indeed

 

Online personae may or may not be authentic. Mine is. Really. You can trust me. I'm a good person. I post pictures of dogs.

 

 

 

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

[mickey1952]

I have facebook, but I have always maintained that "if you don't want the rest of the world to know, don't post". I never assume that only the people I want to see it, are going to see my post. However I don't feel compelled to let everyone how laundry day is going either lol.

But Breeze, you realize that now you've made us all wonder just how well laundry day is going? LOL!

[Breeze]

But Breeze, you realize that now you've made us all wonder just how well laundry day is going? LOL!

 

LOL Yeah because everyone wants to know how washing my summer quilt went 

[Zombie]

LOL Yeah because everyone wants to know how washing my summer quilt went 

 

Sure we do - after all Breeze is a laundry product Just as we were all gripped by Mickey's 15 min trauma-wait at the hairdressers, and then relieved at the happy outcome - shaving it all off Fact is most human communication has always been about the mundane, so the shocking banality of tweets and Facebook really shouldn't be a surprise. There must be some primordial urge to share trivia - that way people don't need to fill their heads with unnecessary clutter. Like real problems

[Gene Splicer PHD]

I use facebook to keep track of family that I don't speak to much, twitter sometimes too.

 

My online presence is limited to that, and sites like this where there's no connection to me IRL.

 

But I generally keep a very very low profile, and I don't want people tracking me down. In fact, I just changed my facebook name to include umlauts and accents in it, which defeats facebook's new "anyone can search for you" policy.

[Uziel]

I'm on Facebook, Twitter and a few other social sites. I don't share personal stuff on there, well, very few stuff. I don't tweet when I blech or fart or eat. These sites are just places where I communicate, help and connect with people. I make it a point to keep my private life, PRIVATE.

[iSimba]

Twitter is a godsend. I can't believe it's taken me this long to find it. I get so much quality news and information that it's absolutely amazing. Now I just have to work on putting it back out there.

 

Facebook is dying for me. I really should reinvigorate my account, fix it up, etc.

 

I also use Reddit, Instagram, Google+, and Tumblr. All different mediums of getting the same information. Some days I want to read. Some days I want to have a conversation. Some days I want to look at pretty pictures.

 

I really should have a handle but I'm shite at making them so I don't bother.