At this point in time, many individuals have some kind of social media presence. It can be Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, WordPress and so on. Some people just use one form of social media and others, have multiple platforms from which to communicate to the world.
Often when you have multiple social media platforms you may utilize a different voice on each of them. Some individuals may utilize a uniform voice across all of them. I tend to land in between. I have slightly different voices depending on the medium. Occasionally, I have the same thoughts but express them differently depending on whether it’s Twitter or Facebook.
Apparently, however, there are certain sets of people that tend to use social media as either a way to brag or to complain continuously.
I had resisted getting onto Facebook for the longest time. After I gave birth, I was convinced to get into Facebook so that people could catch photos of my son. It made some sense. As such, Facebook really became a way for me to “brag” or to gush about my baby. I admit that I sing his praises everywhere. I tend to not complain much on Facebook. Not even about all the political nuttiness in our country. I avoid politics at all costs on my posts. However, I will not refrain from complaining about customer service. Just like Ann Coulter, I have tweeted at Delta. I must admit, they immediately contacted me and handled the situation. I firmly believe that one’s complaints need to be strategic and on small doses. I don’t go and engage in a tweet storm.
While I don’t complain as much, I can see why some people would. You can use Twitter to scream as loud as you can in a great cathartic stream. It’s akin to just venting at a speaker’s corner. It can be freeing.
Question is what is your best use of social media ?
Categories: Culture, Humor, identity, mental health, Psychology, social media
psychologistmimi 
I had to stop following a few blogs because of the continuous complaining. I complain on occasion, I’ve bragged about my veggie garden. I don’t think that I have a pattern, though.
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Interesting to think about. I have Facebook and Twitter, besides my WP blog. On FB I can keep up with family & friends, but I don’t usually add anything except to announce my blog updates. Twitter, just to say I have a new blog post. Word Press is where I do most everything, such a socialize, post photos, and say what I want to say. 🙂
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I’m just me. I use social media to be sociable. Consciously, I try to be a mix of silly and thought-provoking. I don’t “brag” about much (do I??), but I do occasionally vent (I had an epiphany, yesterday, and that came in a good vent session with a colleague I hadn’t had a chance to vent to in a while – we can’t keep it all pent up inside, or it festers) but more often (I think, and hope!) I share my joys and happiness in the little things.
Not in some smarmy, “Oh, look at me, see how grateful I am and how thankful to God at every turn! You should try it sometime!” way (that’s between God and me) but in a more “Wow! Isn’t this fun! Isn’t this delightful!?” kind of way. Like, a couple of days ago, I posted video of what I thought were teeny tiny hummingbirds, and someone else taught me about “hummingbird moths,” which I’d never heard of but now love!
As an observer, I do find myself distancing myself from friends who are nothing but woe and misery online. You have to balance it – seriously, I have one friend who’s been in the hospital fighting cancer for the better part of a YEAR, and I enjoy reading his wall because he’s…normal. You know, down when he’s down (and has more reason than most to complain!), but shares the little moments of hope and triumph and love of friends and family, too.
I don’t shy away from politics, but I despise nastiness. On my Facebook wall, we can discuss all manner of controversial topics with gleeful abandon – provided no one attacks other participants in the discussion. I’ll block even family or friends for that. (Oh, bash politicians if you like – but even there, some restraint, like not simply questioning their parentage or making disparaging remarks about the color of their hair, is appreciated.) The mix is about half and half between conservatives and liberals, but the peace is an easy one to keep among my friends, because they’re all smart and respectful people. They know I’m a non-partisan enforcer of the one rule against ad hominem attacks. I really think that if the news media had hired good moderators from the start, and used their block buttons fearlessly, the infamous “comments section” would be much more interesting and much less “infamous.” But they cheaped out and thought they could get by with benign neglect. Human nature doesn’t work that way.
My mother used to say that friends LOVE to be there for you when you’re down, but only a real friend is there to truly celebrate your successes. It’s an interesting thing to watch; I sometimes feel like a bad friend, not chiming in with “thoughts and prayers” (again, that’s between God and me, and I don’t need to affirm it on Facebook) when someone’s down, because I get to worrying and feeling terrible that I can’t fix everything for everyone. But I LOVE to celebrate friends’ happy moments. I LOVE knowing they’re okay. I find that makes me happier, too.
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I started using Twitter to tell people what I was doing (everyday nonsense), then it became retweeting funny images/memes, and these days I retweet a lot of political things, which can also be pretty funny. My blog does not include any politics. Instagram is for my photography hobby, and I don’t check facebook. My main thing is my blog. I am wondering if it is better to completely silo those 3, or to cross-pollenate as I occasionally do.
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I think that if you’re running a business, or a forum for hobbyists, you silo it and stay on message. You should know exactly who your audience is, and “perform” for them (without being a fake or a fraud). That’s your job.
For personal social media, though, I like knowing the whole person. No one is one thing, and only one thing, all the time. I’d vote for the cross-pollination. People can usually connect the dots, if they’ve a mind to. If they think you’re pretending to be someone you’re not, or they think they’ve unearthed a secret, pseudonymous account, they can be pretty harsh. It’s hard enough to gain trust, but to re-gain it, once lost, nearly impossible.
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I like to spread cheer on both my blogs. I rant plenty – just not online.when I was on FB I would cheerfully rant, ie putting the humour into it.
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a cheerful rant rocks! 🙂
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Why not brag and complain at the same time? It requires fewer posts that way.
Seriously, I’d rather spend my time doing a blog than the same amount of time of Facebook. You can put so much more depth into your writing, explore multiple sides of an issue and not fuss with trolls. Facebook is FULL of trolls. FB gets limited to whatever I’m currently doing and shared posts that have an interesting message. Don’t even bother with all the other social media.
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Depth in writing? Explore all sides of an issue?? You can, but then you run into the whole “TL;DR” crowd, which is almost worse than trolls. If you make 98% of your posts Friends Only and moderate them well, with the understanding that no matter how vehement the argument, friends don’t attack friends, you never have to SEE the Facebook trolls… The Twitter trolls (and I suspect about half the news site trolls) are just bots responding mindlessly and mean-spiritedly to keywords.
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If someone is in the TL;DR crowd, they aren’t my intended audience. I am trying to reach a larger crowd than my friends list. Some of my blog entries are up-gunned versions of FB posts in various interest groups.
I rather think that too much TL;DR is part of the reason for the decline of modern civilization.
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I don’t disagree with you about the TL;DR contingent – I’m pretty sure I can claim the longest comment HERE, to date! – but they exist. They make it hard to expand your blog audience with longer posts. But then again, if it weeds out the readers who aren’t interested in all your writing in the first place…no harm, no foul, right?
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I use Facebook mostly to post witty one liners that come to me randomly; and of course, also to keep up with friends who live far away. I’ve had a hard time getting a following on Twitter so I mostly use it to post blog updates and quotes from books that I like. Really though, I have a twitter account to keep up with the news. I know that’s frowned upon but usually twitter is faster than even CNN on some stuff!
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I totally agree with you regarding Twitter and the news I check there often 🙂
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I’m so grateful for social media. When I was going through the horrendous process of breaking a cycle of abuse I felt so alone. I hadn’t yet discovered the numerous support groups and pages on FB or IG, etc. Now I work to be a source of comfort and hope to the many people who read my blog or have joined my groups, or who are in other groups that I’m a member of.
If there’s one thing I can sell, it’s hope. I can’t sell lipstick or time shares or essential oils, but I can sell hope.
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I have a personal FB page and a FB page linked to my WP blog. The personal page is just that pics of my family and some cartoons and nice things from the Dodo about cute animals and occasionally a share from something political. I rarely brag and I try not to complain. There is enough gloom out there already.
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That makes sense to me 🙂
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As you may have guessed, based on the infrequency of my WP posts, I have next to no interest in sharing my life, opinions, or much of anything about me on social media. I used it to absorb this stuff rather than to provide it. That may make me a bit of a voyeur, perhaps. I skip over rants and brags of a political or personal nature. I’m mainly interested in just the facts from or about people I know.
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Ah, yes I forgot about the voyeur or lurker:-)
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