Mashable is running an experiment where they challenge people to survive without social media for two weeks - http://mashable.com/2012/03/02/social-media-disconnect-challenge/
They are calling it the media disconnect challenge, because they think it's kind of impossible to survive without social media for two weeks. They don't realise there are still people out there who don't use social media. My parents don't, most of my extended family doesn't either, and well, I use it sparingly because most of the time my news feed is cluttered with bullshit I couldn't care less about which appears simply because someone is in my friends' list. I can't exactly delete people from my facebook because it has real-life consequences.
It's funny how you can choose not to have any interaction with someone on a real life basis, but you can't unfriend the person because if he/she finds out, the shit hits the fan. I think its mainly because if you choose not to talk to someone, it's a personal thing between you and him/her that no one else knows about. But if you unfriend someone on social media, the whole damn world will find out about it, and very soon, much sooner that you'd like. Said person will be unable to stomach the loss of face, and soon even that person you never talked to in school will be telling one of your friends about it.
As much as social media has its uses, most times people use it to follow things that have no real meaning for their own lives. I mean, okay so-and-so just went on a holiday, so-and-so has a new boyfriend/girlfriend, so-and-so was at this place eating something at this time, but really, what's it to you other than to satiate your own curiosity. But, I admit that I have found many interesting things on facebook as well. Great pictures, videos, inspirational quotes. Just not that often unfortunately. And thankfully, I don't have to share it because other people will do it for me if it's good enough.
I guess I'm not a fan, but I have to admit that it might be fun someday just to start a twitter channel called "jadedyoungmansays" and start tweeting from it. And yes, I got that idea from Community's oldwhitemansays. And now with the rise of microblogging sites like Weibo and tumblr, to a relatively lesser extent, I really wonder what it means for people like me. People who are not exactly fans of social media because of its invasiveness, or because it holds little relevance to my life.
I would like to state it here plain and simple. Not using social media does not mean I have a personality problem. In this day and age, people like to equate it as such. And I guess I don't really get a say into it because I don't partake into that conversation going on in the social media. I'm not a fan of taking food pictures, of taking pictures of myself, which are like 90% of the posts on facebook. Honestly, I don't care. It's just too much. After awhile no one can keep track of where you ate, and your face doesn't change even if you take 1000 pictures.
It is not because I have low self-esteem issues, or because I'm a boring person, which are the common assumptions. I just find it very overwhelming, and I really have better things to do with my time than to follow the endless deluge of information coming in. Things like exercising, maintaining relationships with people that matter to me, pursuing my financial and musical education, or planning for my next holiday. And most days I have so much work, at the end of the day the last thing I have time for really is facebook. I don't even blog much these days, which I used to do quite a fair bit, which I guess really says quite a bit about how caught up I am.
And there is something I guess I buy into, which may not matter to other people but it does to me. If you really care about who I am, how I am doing, or what I am doing now, pick up the phone, or drop me a text message. Because after all, keeping in touch is a two way thing. I am not interested in you checking on me via facebook just to find out how I'm doing, because you aren't really interested in finding out about me, you're just interested in satiating your own curiosity. And I guess for that reason, I do not update my facebook. I may be one of the rare ones, but at least I know that the people who keep in touch with me are the people who matter.