Social Media Has A Controversial P.R. That Is Always Affecting You

Is social media too distracting? Well, here’s what I have to say about it…

Sorry, I was just checking my Facebook. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Social media. Being distracting. And all that.

Okay, so all joking aside, yes, obviously social media is a big sucker of time and productivity. We spend so much time looking at what our friends are up to, and not what we ourselves are doing. It’s a byproduct of the infinite expanse that is the internet. It’s also so ubiquitous you probably just did it right before reading this article.

Now, the P.R. of this is an odd duck. Because you can hear all sorts of arguments fired at the average person for how they don’t “look up” from their phone enough. And yet, at the same time, we are more connected, more aware, more understanding of the human condition—or at least what friends are up to on the day-to-day.

But still, aren’t we a tad robbed of old interactions? I can’t really ask most people what they’ve been up to lately because I can see the pictures. We share our lives and thus have less to share in person.

A meeting for coffee at Starbucks on Cleveland St. loses a lot of its luster when in ten minutes I can know all the significant things you did in the last few days—before you even get there.

But, you do have people who don’t post to Facebook or other social medias, and those people are now somehow odd, and “other”. Not being able to find someone on the internet is a concerning thing, not a comforting thing.

Even If You Don’t Use Social Media, It’s Still Part Of Your P.R.

So, we’re encouraged to post pictures of that one trip to a concert in Tampa, or the Clearwater Beach meetup from last week—less we seem like nothing is going on in our lives.

Which is not good P.R. for anyone. It’s another example of the overwhelming wave of media we all produce and consume, even if it’s not as obvious as when it comes to movies or television.

And sadly, unlike some of the other articles I’ve written, I’m not sure what to do about the situation. Pick a side, I guess. Be a Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube user to the core, or feel the subtle disconnect from the rest of humanity.

If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work on The Hive, or at his website: www.coolerbs.com

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