After discussing some basic history and development of social media and technology this week, I realized I never noticed the evolution of the internet until I look back on it. I say this because I grew up and developed with it. I never lived without it as my parents and grandparents did. This gave me some feeling of guilt as I realize how dependent I've become on such technology. It does feel like another piece of me that I work so hard to create. I too, like others, spend a decent amount of time developing a web presence that I want. It's bizarre how this dependence works. I used to think of it as a way to avoid standing in lines alone or waiting for someone and looking like I have nothing to do. But I quickly realize after our discussion that it is a dependence. It is a dependence on something to do, something to pass the time, something to keep me in the "loop." But sadly, I feel like none of these are good reasons to be tangled up in the dozens of social media queues. We don't simply use one, we use multiple at a time. The funny thing is that we even create different personas for each. On Facebook, I am a student, family member, and hardly post that often. However, Twitter is another thing. I use it to speak my mind, connect with friends, and I hardly hide my opinions. I feel that this is common for most people my age. I believe differences exist among the social media apps but it depends on the person and their degree of involvement in each. But one thing is certain, we love and depend on these apps for one reason or another. For me, I am looking to connect, see what friends are doing, and keep in contact with distant family. I like to think I can function outside of these worlds even though I am part of several different ones. I am happy to say that my use of social media is quickly lowering as I am getting closer to the professional world. But I am scared of how different that world might be as I get older and younger people are making greater influences on our job market. I have a feeling that social media will grow even further and I am not sure if we all will be able to keep up. It seems contradicting that I fear it even though I use it, but I have a feeling a lot of us have that same perception.
Online dating is such a mystery to me. I don't understand the swiping or the matching or really anything that goes into it. I remember a time in my freshman year when all my friends peer pressured (yes, I fell for it) into making a Tinder account. Well, it seemed innocent enough as I swiped through these guys that were less than 30 miles away. It led to a few matches and it seemed like a great way to get to know these people that went to the same University as me. Well, it wasn't actually fun. People harassed me and sent awful direct messages that I would never like to see again. Even more, random people in my class would say "Oh, I saw your tinder." Which made me feel shame, even though they were on it too. It took until someone else explained it to me what exactly the app is. It appears that it is nothing more than an app that is furthering the "hookup culture" that surrounds us. It is nothing more than a way for people to superficially judged you and the...
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