What ARE you DOING?

You know, Who You Are…or Who “They” Are.

Those people on Facebook, Twitter and the like that use these platforms FOR THEIR USE ONLY. Then see what everyone else is doing, maybe to use it as a tool to ambush someone or tell YOU about something THEY learned about a person on Facebook and make snide remarks about it.   I am at the point of doing a few things:

  • Ditching them as “Friends”
  • Unfollowing them on Twitter
  • Should I block them all together?
I have posted more than once the idea of the Social Media Stalker mentality, how we ALL know the selfish people in our lives behave the same way on Social Media as they do in real life.  It is not pretty sometimes.

THEY Want Something:

The best thing about Social Media is that it is much easier to see the pattern than it may be in real life.  There are time stamps and in most cases a “feed” so you can see the activity. (IRL=In Real Life)  You hang out with your friends, they hang out with others and it always comes out – most often not in the same group that brought up the topic in the first place.  You do not see it in real life  as easily or quickly.
In Social Media vs. face to face it is:  “Did you see what Miss Whozit said on Facebook?  It seemed ridiculous, I cannot believe it, what a loser.”
YUCK YUCK YUCK…

Knowledge is POWER

When you live in a small town, like I do,  rumors run around town fast and with Social Media it is even more LIGHT speed.  People that never had knowledge before, now have it, use it and ‘make hay’ with it.  People that are your “FRIENDS” on Facebook may not be your “FRIENDS” as we know true friends to be.  To me a true friend is someone that would come to your Mom’s funeral, shovel you out in a pinch, pick up your kids at daycare when you are not feeling well, call you to just say, “I Miss You.”  You see where I am going here, right?

This behavior comes down to a simple thing my mom always said (and still says today):

“If you aren’t going to say anything nice about someone, don’t say anything at all.”

MY 2013 version:

“If you are not going to get into the conversation, offer support by posting something on their wall or call the person because they are crying out for help in a different way then – SHAME ON YOU!
Are we just “bullies” in an older form?  Sermon over.
*Disclaimer:  This post isn’t because this recently happened to “Yours Truly”, but I heard it about it.  It makes me go “Bo Bo, so beware.”

 

Facebook, Myspace and other things you should understand "For the Children!"

If you have children that spend time on the computer, no one can tell you enough that there are weirdos lurking on the internet and it is up to you to parent and know the details of where your kids are going when they are on line, just like you know the details when they are going out on a Friday night with their friends. This is the reason why all PC has installed the offshore cyber security which detects the kind of user using now and displays the content accordingly.

Computers in bedrooms where kids can remain on line for hours with little or no supervision is a bad idea no matter how SAFE the computer is. Kids need to interact with humans – person to person and not use the “tube” as a playmate. Also, there could be bullying on line from someone at school and you need to know that too! (The preceding link helps you understand issues with cyberbullying.)

Software subscriptions may be purchased (just like virus subscriptions) and here is a link to a website that gives you reviews of the different kinds available and how they work. Don’t forget before you choose one to buy, make sure you know if you want it on a PC or a MAC or if you use Internet Explorer or Firefox, as these matter.

Also remember that your kids may have Myspace accounts, or other social networking sites or even aol’s instant messenger, that you may want to watch and understand how they use it and who their friends are. Just when you think your kids Super Mario game is safe, did you know that Nintendo DS is a wireless gaming center that predators or bullies can instant message your kid from across a playground!

You can be sure of two things: Your kids will know more about how these work than you do, and the predators will know more than they do.