AIM do you remember it?

Social media has become so prevalent in our society that sometimes I think people forget we weren’t all born into it. Some of us are dinosaurs that remember the all mighty dial-up! My first interaction with social media was AIM on AOL. There were of course parental blocks set up for me so I was only able to chat with pre-approved friends. Even those chats were far and few because at that time not every house hold had a desktop computer. I can remember trading screen names and waiting online hoping to hear the noise of a door opening on your buddy list. Now a day’s social media is a much different it's everywhere and accessible on every device. You can literally go anywhere and hop on social media. No more hoping one of your pre-approved friends coincidentally goes online the same time as you do. At some point social media went from a way of keeping in touch with old friends to consuming our lives. It became almost intrusive. Constantly seeing every little thing your acquaintances do from what they eat to when they went to the gym, ads being shoved down your throat, and the demand to join other competing websites that basically offer the exact same things. Even though it is so intrusive it is like a bad popularity contest you can’t escape, because everyone is using it, you have too.  For some of us dinosaurs social media has become an unwanted responsibility. It’s hard for me to go out and see so many couples sitting at a dinner table with two phones in between them. My boyfriend and I have a no cell phone at the dinner table rule. I urge all of you to try it. I think it’s fair to say I don’t enjoy social media as much now as in years past. I enjoyed how easy it was to reach out to friends but that’s not what it is anymore. It has become progressive. I have 3 out of 5 classes that I have to “like” our class Facebook page. Social media has changed our social norms and will continue to. Personally I think the overall worst, and defective thing about the evolution of social media is how unreliable it makes our news sources. People are constantly quoting things they have seen on sites that aren’t even true. Our society has grown too dependent on social media as a source of news not interaction. I worry that this will cause people to stop being aware of every day news and politics. Our right to that information is our right as Americans to be informed and make conscious decisions from that information. We must always remember that knowledge is power, if that knowledge is factual.  Let’s face it though, social media isn’t going anywhere. It has become a crucial aspect in people’s personal lives, classrooms, how businesses operate, charities, relationships, and so much more. The capability and intrusiveness of these sites will only advance.