finally someone explains what facebook is for

=) at last, and in terms we can all understand.

is afraid of the social media neonazis

You'd really have to be hiding under a rock these days to have not heard the term 'social media,' but on the off chance that's you (and I'm not judging), you might want to watch this video before you continue reading this post. You ought to watch it anyway because it's really nifty. =)

I spent a great deal of time today catching up on several articles I've been meaning to digest, following links to sites I'd always meant to visit, and analyzing many of the emerging aspects of the social media craze which is rapidly morphing and growing at speeds faster than I can properly explain - things have already changed in some way, maybe major or maybe minor, even before I can end this sentence.

One very interesting and perhaps disturbing change is the emergence of a growing dissatisfaction with some of the more inane aspects of current social media practices, particularly focusing on the kind of content people are sharing online about themselves. 'Rules' are emerging. Boundaries are being set. Lines in the sand are being drawn. Alliances are being formed. Within a very short time, factions have already arisen within the social media universe with the sole purpose of insisting any thought launched into the social media stream follow certain criteria or face the dire consequences of cyber-ire. I first became aware (probably late to the party) of these factions of self-appointed cyber-regulators when someone I'm connected to on Facebook joined a Facebook Group demanding status updates must be kept interesting. This caused me to raise my eyebrows a bit. 'There are rules now?' I pondered. 'Who says?' I wondered. 'How come?' I queried.

I quickly realized the members of this Facebook group, though small in number in this instance, aren't alone in the least. In my reading today, I came across dozens of articles proclaiming sets of rules to be followed for how one ought to use Twitter (if you don't know about it, ummm ... well, maybe you somehow missed what a large part of global society is abuzz over these days and should try watching this helpful video), even to the point of theorizing most Tweeters fall into eight very specific categories that define how they will (and should) use Twitter based on their personality types according to the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (an article by John Martellaro I found quite fascinating; to read it, click here.)

It would seem humans can't leave anything alone without classifying it, labeling it, putting a box around it, categorizing it, forming dissenting factions over it, and otherwise ruining it in general - not even the humble status update posted via Facebook or Twitter, which you might remember from the very beginning sprung from one simple question: "What are you doing?"

I'm confused. Wasn't all of this supposed to be fun? Isn't there a reason we call this bizarre phenomenon of sharing and blogging and microblogging and status updates social media, instead of 'productive media' or 'networking media' or 'interesting media' or whatever? In reflecting on this social trend I found it helpful to read the Merriam-Webster dictionary of the word 'social,' primarily defined as "marked by or passed in pleasant companionship with one's friends or associates." It doesn't say anything about the rules of whether or not something ought to be considered social in nature, nor does this definition define guidelines, specifics, or other end-all be-all commandments which must be followed when engaging in social behavior. I think we're all starting to take ourselves a bit too seriously when we decide we have the right to determine how one ought to be able to tweet, for crying out loud!

One of the things I enjoy most about social media, watching it grow and change so rapidly, is the vast diversity of this amazing concept. Everyone and anyone can have a completely unique and valid experience interacting with it and through it. Many people have compared Twitter (and arguably Facebook) to a massive cocktail party where a myriad of people you know and don't know can connect and chatter on about anything and everything. Some of the chatter is useful to you, some of it is not. When we are interacting socially with anyone, don't we all use various filters to automatically zero in on or zone out of anything we find of interest or don't find interesting in the least? So should social media be used!!

Use social media in the way you want, as often as you want, to get the things you want out of it! People use it for all sorts of things!

• Some people use it to give their opinions on everything from doctors to restaurants.
  
• Some people talk about their day and give it a rating.
  
• Some people bitch about a supremely frustrating personal situation.
  
• Some people talk about their garden.
  
• Some people share images of their pets and children.
  
• Some people use Facebook as a way to connect with like-minded folk about various social concerns.
  

The potential social media has is completely infinite, and in my opinion should always remain so!

One site I use, Momentile, allows users to post one image per day defining a moment from their life during that 24-hour period. You can post as often as you like within that period, but only the most recent image you share will be retained in the stream of images that, over time, makes up your own personal photo journal. The way in which I use Momentile is completely different than that of the next guy. One user I stumbled across always shares an image of himself with his surroundings of the moment in the background. I, on the other hand, post bizarrely unrelated images describing whatever moment I choose to fixate on, from piles of dirty laundry to what I've had for breakfast (here's a link to my photo stream on momentile if you're curious). Yet both of us are completely correct in our interpretation of Momentile's functionality and how we have chosen to apply it to our self-expression on the internet. Each of us have the absolute right to use Momentile in completely different ways, and as there are no rules (other than the 24-hour limitation), we should not be criticized by others on how we choose to express ourselves in this fashion.

My thinking is this central golden rule really ought to extend to every social media site, not just Momentile - people should have the right to use such vehicles of creative expression in whatever way they want to without risking irritating someone who only wants to read interesting updates or who thinks Twitter should only be used for professional networking or creating global change. Indeed, social media is immensely powerful and capable of creating change in huge and measurable and even in many cases instant ways. But that's not the only thing it 'ought' to be used for. I imagine (and could probably prove if I felt like taking the time to research) people once had similar discussions and debates about the purpose of film and television when they exploded onto the fabric of our existence.

Yes, social media can teach you things. Yes, social media can change lives. Yes, social media can massively and positively impact your professional life. Yes, social media can allow you to quickly answer almost any question or get help from a pool of knowledge in solving a variety of problems. Yes, I truly think those ways of using these vehicles for expression are AMAZING and AWESOME and of MONUMENTAL IMPORTANCE. Seriously, I really do - social media is currently completely fascinating to me!! But it can ALSO be used for creative expression. It can ALSO be used as a means to stay connected to distant friends and family (which is the primary reason I started using aspects of it in the first place). It can ALSO be used to develop and maintain groups where people of a variety of backgrounds and locations and positions can interact to discuss a variety of topics. As I wrote above, the possible applications for social media are and should remain limitless.

If I want to tell everyone who follows me on Twitter and all my Facebook friends about the amazing breakfast Nathan whipped up for me in the kitchen earlier, complete with a photograph, I have the right to do that! If someone wants to talk about how tired they are, or how bored they are, or that they're battling a cold or what the weather is doing outside their window or how they plan to spend their evening or share a picture of the sunset with everyone, guess what?? It's OK! If the 'Guest Poster' (hah) who wrote this list of Twitter Tips doesn't want to read about that, or if you don't want to read about that, then quite simply don't. Stop following me on Twitter, un-friend me on Facebook if you find my status updates so inane and unimportant. That's fine with me - I'm not one to count the number of followers/friends I have anyway (some people seem completely obsessed with this)!

I'll continue to use social media in the way that works best for me! Because that's what it should really be all about - applying social media's plethora of tools in whatever arrangement suits me best and in whatever way I best identify with. That's what makes the observation of and participation in social media today so fascinating, being able to dip your itty bitty toe or plunge completely headfirst into this amazingly infinite pool of interaction, connectivity, and expression. Want to use Twitter to change the world? Go for it! Want to use Facebook as a way to promote your blog? Yes you can! Want to Tweet endlessly about every single meal you consume and how it made you feel? By Golly, you have that right! =) Just because I or the next person might not use social media tools in these ways doesn't mean someone else can't. Let's allow social media to remain interesting to us in whatever way we fixate on, to remain creative and fluid and limitless and messy and just plain cool. There you have it - my $0.02. And on that note, enjoy this video of someone expressing herself through social media without trumpeting a cause, changing the world, or instigating any deep thinking - it's OK to not be so serious all the time. =)