Okay for anyone who knows me, either personally or through this blog, you know that I am not a huge fan of social media and the overuse of technology. As a writer it has become necessary for me to learn how to adapt to using social media and truthfully I still have some work to do in that department as far as using it effectively. Now I use facebook and twitter and other forms of social media to share my writing and things about me as a writer, and to network with other writers or like minded business people.
I know that there are others who use social media for those purposes as well but that take it to a whole other level by displaying every, little, single, detail of their personal life on the internet. I still do not understand this, and I don’t think that I ever will. There is no logical reason that everyone in the whole entire world (and that’s what the internet includes) needs to know what you had to eat for a particular meal, or how bad (or good) your relationship is going on any given day of the week.
There is no reason why people (possibly future or present employers) need to see the enormous amount of partying that you may have done over the weekend or the half nudity that you chose to display (because you thought it was cute and your friends were not honest enough to tell you otherwise). I don’t think that facebook was ever intended for the unfolding of one’s every move on the internet for all to bear witness to.
In fact Mark Zuckerberg originally created facebook so that the college students attending Harvard could be aware of the activities going on within the campus. If you go to his facebook page he does not even take facebook to the ridiculous extremes that everyone else has chosen to take it to. Somewhere between when social networking sites were developed up until now people seem to have lost sight of the whole point which was to actually network.
Networking does not include (last time I checked) sharing what meal you had for lunch (unless it is a meal that you had at some type of business event or conference), or that you saw someone walking around with a very unflattering outfit on that you couldn’t help but judge them for, or that you let the world see you half-naked pouring countless alcoholic beverages down your throat. It certainly does not mean that everyone in the world needs to know who you are dating and whether your relationship with them is in a good or bad place. That is not networking. That is simply sharing too much unnecessary personal information.
It amazes me how people are so surprised that someone (sometimes their employers) they never told anything to somehow ended up knowing intimate details of their lives. It’s because you choose to air your dirty (or clean) laundry out for all to see. It’s pretty simple, if you don’t show it or tell it all on facebook or twitter or whatever form of social media you are using at the moment, then everyone (that you might not want to be) won’t be all in your personal life.
Let’s try and remember what networking truly means (but just in case any of you out there might have forgotten it is centered below) and maybe we could actually avoid abusing and misusing the social media networking sites.
Definition of NETWORKING
net·work·ing (noun)
‘The exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically : the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.’
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310
Write 2 Be 