Social Media like Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter etal are just venues of entertainment. We like to call the people we follow here friends to some extent or another, particularly on Facebook, but the reality is that these are places we go to entertain or distract or ourselves.
I was thinking about that and then it occurred to me – so are our real life friends. We go out with or call our friends to entertain and distract ourselves. Social Media just makes that a less cumbersome process.
And just like Real Life, social media can fulfill the deeper parts of friendship – it can provide emotional support and advice in a crisis. It can provide a romantic connection. It can lead to casual sexual encounters.
The biggest difference is that there are FAR FAR more connections on the internet than can be maintained in real life. In other words – the ability to use social media as a distracting and entertaining element is far more effective than real life humans. Yeah Internet!
It's a Thought 
I have found I have more in common with many folks from social media than my “real world” friends. Perhaps we are more apt to listen and understand someones words when they are in pixel form. Perhaps its a blogging thing.
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I think the nature of social media is that we have a large pool of people to choose from so we naturally choose people whose interests and values match our own.
In real life we connect with people we are physically in contact with in some manner – school, work, family, etc. Those people do not necessarily share our love for roses and Star Wars. But on the internet there is probably a subreddit of rose growers who love Star Wars and all we have to do is show up – and voila – friends.
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I like this post, but I would say this a little differently. Social media is a tool to reach out to folks. It is very powerful, so we should use social protocols just as we would in person. I have met online some wonderful people. I have also met some I would not describe as such. My thesis is we should be as civil to each other online as we would be in person. When we are, the interchanges are very rewarding. When we are not, just like in physical meetings, we would minimize contact. I do not mind people disagreeing with me as long as they are civil and present their arguments. That is how we validate what we think or see another point of view. Well done.
PS – I have met two bloggers in person and intend to meet a few more, planning travels around those meetings.
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Yes, that is the problem with the online conversation. There is this odd freedom for certain people to say cruel things and be horrible in ways they would never be in real life. I may right a post on that.
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You should. I like your perspective.
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wait – I can’t edit my typo!!! wait wait wait…. sigh. I mean write not right. I want comment editing.
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