November 12, 2013

Social Media: Then & Now

Do you remember the early days of social media?

MySpace, anyone?

I can literally remember, back in the day, when I just had a Facebook and MySpace account.  I could barely keep up with the TWO and so I decided that MySpace was WAY cooler than Facebook {remember when Facebook was kinda lame?} and deleted my Facebook account.  Jokes on me now.

Now there's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Foursquare, Tumbler, Blogger, Wordpress, Bloglovin', LinkedIn, and I'm sure a whole slew of others that I am missing/do not know/care about.  Chances are you are a part of one or more of these and holy cow, that's a lot to keep up with.   Forget Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

I refused to join Twitter for the longest time.  I didn't get it, it didn't make sense to me.  And this was even before hashtags existed.  For some reason or another, probably for blogging purposes, I signed up.  I instantly got sucked in.  You can follow celebrities?  Sign me up! I'll follow all of them.  Twitter was easy and fast {that's what she said}.  But Twitter was also full of drama in the form of 40 characters.  I mean it's hard to distinguish someones tone in just 40 characters and I saw lots of "conflict".  Thankfully I was never really a part of any of it but it was enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth and therefore I quit the Twit. Well, kind of.  I still get on, late at night when I'm feeding the baby, if someone @ me or to promote my blog or my sponsors but that's about where it ends and I'm OK with that.

Pinterest was something else that I avoided like the plague.  I had heard everyone and their mother  say what a complete and total time-suck it was and I barely had time to put on deodorant let alone get sucked into yet another social media outlet.  So I sat by and deleted every invitation that came my way and secretly wanted to know what it was all about.  I finally caved and accepted an invitation and they weren't lying.  Total time-suck.  So you think you're going to actually make all those recipes you're pinning?  Probably not because OMG you have to pin more!  And then, like your Barbie Dream House a week after Christmas, the excitement wore off and now I couldn't tell you the last time I was on.  Oh, wait, it was last night when I was feeding James.  Seriously, what did I do during midnight feedings before?

Instagram is by far my most favorite form of social media.  I hope I never lose the urge to scroll through people's pictures of their dinner or another Starbucks red cup because it makes me smile.  Silly?  Yes, totally but I love it.  In a way it seems like Instagram is a quick, short, form of blogging, no?  In some ways I think it's replacing blogging, to a point.  Like that dinner I could have blogged the recipe for?  Why bother I just shared it with 1200 of my closest friends on Insta.  I hope blogging doesn't ever go away but as long as Instagram is there it'll be easier to digest.  LOVE.

As for LinkedIn, Foursquare, and Tumbler? I have no clue and I'm cool with that.  I barely have time to keep track of the few forms of social media I have and there's no way I'm going to "check in" every time I go to Target to earn "badges" or whatever.  Plus, Jimmy doesn't really need to know that I went four times in one week anyway.

So what are your favorite social media platforms? And, for crying out loud, do you still have a MySpace?

13 comments:

  1. I love Pinterest. I don't pin it if I'm not going to make it, so that means I actually click on it to make sure it's a working link & then read the recipe to make sure I can execute it before pinning. I don't just pin bc it looks good- that's not the intention. Never had Myspace & actually don't know anyone with it- I'm probably a bit old for it (33). We did ICQ & IM in college.

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  2. Haha, I love this! I think Pinterest is my favorite. Nope, no more myspace...deleted it about 5 years ago. I do miss AIM though:(

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  3. Dude, I think Myspace is trying to make a comeback....I totally saw a commercial for it the other day. Like, no joke, I was like "What, the WHAT?!"
    But I agree with you as far as Twitter. I couldn't tell you the last time I was actually on. I have my FB linked with it, so that's why you always see posts from me, but it's because I'm posting on FB or Instagram. Pinterest....Obsession. I can't help it. LOL! Oh well...could be addicted to worse things :-)

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  4. I think my favs are Pinterest and IG. I love both, it's like you said, Insta is like the new blogging, and I like that. I don't always have time to read all my bloglovin' stuff so to hop on IG and see things, it's good.

    I don't think I ever deleted my MySpace but I did stop using it like 5 years ago? and AIM... oh I remember that one!! The good ole days!

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  5. I heart instagram too. Also blogging is something I love.
    Facebook is losing its charm most certainly.
    Great post.
    Xoxo

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  6. Twitter & Instagram are my go to favorites. I'm obsessed. I feel like I tweet the stuff I can't or don't want to say on Facebook because of my girl scout troops moms or my grandparents or the other people who are on Facebook. Plus Facebook is all ads and "like this, share this or you will die in 20 seconds" and that annoys me.
    Pinterest- I have a love/hate relationship. I've stopped getting on and just randomly pinning things. If I'm looking for an idea- I search on there first before going to google. It tends to help me with arts/crafts for my Girl Scout & Sunday school groups.
    I never deleted Myspace. Just stopped checking it. I got on a few months ago to see if anyone still used it and it was COMPLETELY different. I have heard its making a comeback however.
    LinkedIn- I use for work purposes. I don't like it but have to have it and so I guess I'll continue using it until told otherwise.
    FourSquare I did for a few months but then got annoyed when people claimed my mayorships at Walmart :) (closest store to us) and I really only went 3 places so it was pointless after a while.

    My personal favorite- Goodreads. I LOVE reading and love being able to see what other people are reading (people I know) and read their reviews on books and making my decision that way. It also keeps a "to read" library for me since I can't ever seem to remember what books I wanted to read. I walk thru Target or Barnes & Noble and add books that I want to read (but am too cheap to buy so download on my Kindle later) onto the reading list. haha

    I think I may need a social networking intervention. :/

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  7. I didn't know MySpace still existed. I deleted it back in 2008. I refuse to get on Twitter for the reason that it has caused conflict with certain people I know and I wanted no part of it. I am happy with my Instagram, Blog, Pinterest, and FB.

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  8. I also LOVE Instagram...it's so fun taking a little look into other lives and see what is going on. I like Twitter but have not mastered it yet...still working on that. Seriously still trying to figure out the whole hash-tag thing. #oldlady #confused #Ineedtofigureitoutsomeday.

    Laura @ Mice In The Kitchen

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  9. Seriously. I could have written this. Except I'm completely off twitter now. And I'm obsessed with Instagram. I check it at least five (okay ten) times a day.

    Blog, Facebook and Instagram are my social media lovers. And I"m okay with that. :)

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  10. I still try to avoid pinterest. I created an account because when people sent me links, it wouldn't let me look without an account, but boy that site just makes me want to eat a ton of bad food and buy a ton of things and want want want want. ha. I don't even have instagram! I should do that one though. I am very active on FB though- does that count? ha

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  11. I think I signed up for the 'new' myspace, but it was kind of lame. I signed up for and then deleted facebook when it was still only for cool college kids. I still like it, but like you Insta is my fav. I like twitter too, but I'm pretty selective about who I follow to avoid the dramz. LinkedIn I have for work...its like fb for super grown ups. Ewww.

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  12. I was soooooooooo against Pinterest at first too!! Then one day I was down for the count with a migraine and decided to accept an invite. I love it still. And I was really against Instagram at first because I felt like it was "just another thing" but my sister convinced me that I SO needed it. I think it is just like a mini form of blogging too!! I haven't been on Twitter in ages but actually miss it a lot I think. It just "took too much time" because I felt like I had to clear my feed EVERY time I check it out. I'm worried that I'll be sucked in again if I start up again ;-)

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  13. I seriously love Instagram. I keep hearing that facebook is becoming myspace now and that people are slowly moving away from it.

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