What are your thoughts on social media?

[Philo]

I got rid of all of mine a few weeks back, but I'm very interested in what you all think, especially in the ways you use if, if you do.

[Todd]

I have a Twitter account, but I've never tweeted.  I still have two followers.  One's a bot, but the other may be a person.  Every once in a while I will check the tweets of the Fart Robot, otherwise I find Twitter a waste of time.

I also have a Facebook account and have three friends - all of them family members.  I've spent perhaps 30 minutes a year on average on Facebook.  I find it a waste of time. 

I do use LinkedIn, in that I keep my profile up to date, but otherwise I have not found it useful in getting a job, obtaining clients, or finding vendors.

I've not tried any others.  They aren't for me.  I spend online time on a few forums and on reputable news sites.

[Gurn Blanston]

I got rid of all of mine a few weeks back, but I'm very interested in what you all think, especially in the ways you use if, if you do.

All I have are GMG and Twitter.

I use Twitter to help broadcast my blog to a wider audience. It has worked very well for this purpose. It has also got me an opportunity to 'meet' several famous musicians, some of whom follow me and read my blog. I don't see how I could have got to this point without something like Twitter as a tool. I have also got email from several prominent musicologists to discuss aspects of my blog, this also through Twitter.  Overall, I would say the experiment I made joining (I really didn't want to) has paid handsome dividends. Several of my closer acquaintances from GMG are there too, I follow them and vice-versa.

I can't imagine myself on Facebook or Snapchat or Instagram or even Google+ or any of those. I don't tweet from my phone or check in from work, it is strictly a 'home in the evening' thing.

It isn't as though I am a 100% convert to the genre just because I like Twitter...

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I have no interest. I won't bash people who get a ton of enjoyment out of it (like my wife), but I will say that for me it's a load of rubbish.

I have had a LinkedIn account for three or four years now, and I have found it to be totally and utterly worthless, and a huge waste of time. I have 150+ connections, and I think there are maaaaybe three or four of them who are worth a damn--and those ones are people I met outside of LinkedIn. Very few of the really important colleagues, mentors in my life are on LinkedIn. Aside from the spam they send me: "Congratulate Mr. Glad-handing-SOB-who-invited-you-to-connect-three-years ago-but-refused-to-answer-your-messages-afterward on his promotion at CrapToIdiots.com"), I sometimes get inquiries from headhunters (excuse me, "recruiters"  ) which end up being massive wastes of my time.

I am continually tempted to to pull the damn plug, but in the back of my mind I think that some day some prospective employer will see my absence as strange if not alarming.

As for FB, I have a "Public Figure" page, but not a personal page. I find it about as worthwhile as LinkedIn.

In addition to finding FB a waste of time, a dumbing down of human interaction, and a violation of my privacy, I resent some of my former friends who have fallen out of touch after they joined FB. Honestly, if someone can't bother to send an e-mail, call, or communicte outside the confines of FB once in a while, how much of a friend are they really?

[Ken B]

I have FB because it makes logging into numerous apps easier. I never use it directly. I have linked in sort of accidentally. I never use it. I tweeted once, when the power came on on our block during the Toronto ice storm.

[Holden]

The original social media was and still is forums like this one and I belong to a number of those.

I also have a Facebook account which I read every day and post to when I have something worthwhile to say. It's a great way of keeping up with friends and family who don't live close. I can use the attached messenger account to personalise anything I want to say to them alone.

As for Twitter, snapchat, Instagram and LinkedIn I have no use for them at all even though I have Twitter account I've never used (or checked for that matter)

[Mr. Three Putt]

I had Facebook but deleted it. I tried twitter but realized I didn't care what people bought their mothers for their birthdays. I occasionally join a few friends on Tinychat for classical music sessions, and would be happy to share the address with anyone interested. Also, my 20 year high school reunion came and went this past summer without my attendance. I honestly believe social media, and more specifically Facebook, has killed the need for reunions. Everyone already knows what everyone else is up to, who they're married to, and just about every other detail they didn't need to know.

[Gurn Blanston]

I think it is a tool that is out there; if YOU use IT rather than letting IT use YOU, then it can have a value, as TW does for me. Otherwise, avoiding can only be a good thing. 

[lisa needs braces]

I use Twitter mainly as a source for news -- I follow certain journalists, pundits and intellectuals. Anytime it becomes clear any of them might be using the platform mainly as a tool for self-promotion, I un-follow them.

[Rinaldo]

I'm pretty active on Twitter and FB and I can't deny both of these services actually have a positive effect on my life. I use them both for self-promotion (as in 'sharing my work') and getting in touch with people, finding out about / organizing events.. stuff like that.

I think it is a tool that is out there; if YOU use IT rather than letting IT use YOU, then it can have a value, as TW does for me.

Absolutely. They're channels you can adjust to your own preferences. On Twitter, I follow only about 30 people whose posts I find knowledgeable, entertaining and worthwhile.

[The new erato]

 Thoughts and social media don't mix too well.

[NikF]

Periodically I deactivate my Facebook account. Then every time I reactivate it I ask myself "Why?" because I've never used it properly, neither for social reasons or business - although someone mentioned earlier in the thread that Facebook is useful for signing into stuff. I'd never considered that before. 
Outside of social media I no longer have a real web presence. For years I had a business website and then added a blog. I still own the domain names although they've now both been reduced to the status of holding pages. But it doesn't matter because all my work comes via word of mouth. In fact, I can't recall a big/decent paying job I got purely as a result of being online.
Twitter is alien to me. LinkedIn? - no thanks. Instagram and Pinterest seems to be collections of stuff that I don't have a lot of time to look through but when I do find a little time for always begins by insisting on me downloading an app.
Having said all of that, perhaps as time passes and social media continues to evolve I'll suddenly discover how it can augment my life in the most wonderful manner.

[Green Destiny]

I had a Facebook account for a few months but now I don't use any social media apart from this Forum - maybe im just a bit old-fashioned but I value my privacy

[jochanaan]

I'm actually fairly active on Facebook and Twitter.  I figure that someone needs to try to raise the level of discourse there, and some of the online friends I've made there appreciate my efforts.

[ibanezmonster]

Just facebook for the friends who post stuff related to what I'm interested in. For most of my friends, I don't follow their posts because it's just bleh.

It's the best (and often only) practical way of getting in touch with people who you've lost contact with over the years.

Also, it's the best tool out there for following your favorite bands, as they always post tour dates and announce upcoming CD's. All in one place.

[Mirror Image]

Besides GMG, I'm on Facebook, but I really don't use it that much. I talk to a few people there and have had good conversations through the years. Like Greg said, it's a good way to keep in contact with someone. I don't make any posts on there like "Right now I'm brushing my teeth" or something stupid like that as no one needs to know what I'm doing or even where I'm going or where I've been. You have to draw the line somewhere and mundane day-to-day stuff is where I draw that line.

[lisa needs braces]

I can see Facebook being useful in families and relatives keeping in touch, as well as keeping contact with genuine friends, but the way young people have been using these things is fairly unhealthy as they also use it for social status preening and competition. Facebook allows a person to present one face to the world, that from their most sociable and exciting moments while they conceal everything else...this makes people feel insecure as they go through the profiles and albums of their so called "friends" who most often than not are mere acquaintances.

[Mirror Image]

I can see Facebook being useful in families and relatives keeping in touch, as well as keeping contact with genuine friends, but the way young people have been using these things is fairly unhealthy as they also use it for social status preening and competition. Facebook allows a person to present one face to the world, that from their most sociable and exciting moments while they conceal everything else...this makes people feel insecure as they go through the profiles and albums of their so called "friends" who most often than not are mere acquaintances.

Well, like anything, something that's positive can become a negative if it's used in the wrong way. Thankfully, I've never been one of 'those' people and do a good job of keeping things that are no one else's business private.

[ibanezmonster]

but the way young people have been using these things is fairly unhealthy as they also use it for social status preening and competition. \

Couldn't tell you how many times when using the library at my previous college, I would see people obsessively flipping through pictures on fb with the obvious goal being "social status preening and competition."

And then there was this dude sitting in the back, with his headphones on, listening to the Final Fantasy 5 soundtrack and reading what I believe was the manga of To Love-Ru (sitting away from where people could see due to the nudity). All I thought of this was "THIS DUDE IS THE MOST REAL DUDE IN THIS LIBRARY!" Too bad I didn't get to talk to him much (we did have one class together) and never kept in contact with him at all.

Seriously, people who try to impress others through conforming to whatever is socially "cool" don't get my respect for that and don't impress me, but people who let their nerd flag fly to heavens while having their middle finger pointed at society are just far more cool and interesting IMO.

[lisa needs braces]

Couldn't tell you how many times when using the library at my previous college, I would see people obsessively flipping through pictures on fb with the obvious goal being "social status preening and competition."

And then there was this dude sitting in the back, with his headphones on, listening to the Final Fantasy 5 soundtrack and reading what I believe was the manga of To Love-Ru (sitting away from where people could see due to the nudity). All I thought of this was "THIS DUDE IS THE MOST REAL DUDE IN THIS LIBRARY!" Too bad I didn't get to talk to him much (we did have one class together) and never kept in contact with him at all.

Seriously, people who try to impress others through conforming to whatever is socially "cool" don't get my respect for that and don't impress me, but people who let their nerd flag fly to heavens while having their middle finger pointed at society are just far more cool and interesting IMO.

I personally think that Web 1.0 forums like GMG are the best forms of social media.