Get With The Program
For those pessimistic haters out there in the world saying that the youth of our world is wasting away due to the fact they spend every waking hour glued to their iPhones and social media applications, I would like to say, “Get with the program! It’s the twenty first century, dang it.”
You don’t see Ryan Gosling pulling up to an A-list party in a horse and buggy now do we?
No.
I’m sure we all know what Twitter and Instagram is; at least I hope you do. In case you are like my technologically-challenged, mother (sorry mom) and are sincerely naïve to the constantly, adapting, world of gadgets we live in I will give you a quick run down.
Twitter is that sky blue app with the bird on it. The way it works is you have 140 characters or less to say what ever insignificant or valuable thought that crosses your mind. This is called a tweet. Hence, the name Twitter. You have the liberty to follow friends and celebrities. “Following” is simply like having a concentrated newsfeed of only the select, handpicked, people you care about or simply vicariously live though, such as your favorite celebrity. Twitter also has these little doo-dads called hashtags which is a number sign (#).
The purpose of a hashtag is to make something trend on Twitter, in turn, making it easier for users to search similar topics within the site. One of the more well known hashtags that you are sure to have heard of whether you use Twitter or not is #winning, stated by the notorious Charlie Sheen.
While his Cocaine fried brain was short-circuiting in the public eye his mouth was rapidly firing ingenious quotes such as, “I’m tired of pretending I’m not a total b*tchin’ rock star from Mars.”
“Wow. What does that mean? I’m bi-WINNING.”
Or perhaps this one rings a bell, “Winning, anyone? Rhymes with winning. Anyone? Yeah, that would be us. Sorry man, didn’t make the rules. Oops!” And that children, is what your brain sounds like on drugs. Anyways, so that little public display happened and voilà the hashtag winning was born.
Instagram, which is my personal vice, only focuses on uploading and editing photos to your followers. You are able to use specific filters to adjust lighting, blur edges, or even add a border. Basically, it transforms even the most useless cameraman into this artsy hipster of a photographer. People can “like” a photo by double tapping an image or comment on it just like Facebook. It’s quite impressive. Similar to Twitter the concept of the follower is exactly the same only instead focusing on the written aspect you focus on the photograph. Like Twitter the hashtag is just as relevant to finding trending topics on Instagram as well.
Whew! Glad we have that straightened out. As someone who doesn’t use either of these social media platforms often, you may not recognize their differences right away. However, as you become more familiar, you will learn and discover they aren’t as intimidating as they seem.
In this technological world, collectively as individuals we are intertwined through mutual friends amongst our followers. With social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram on the rise, we as the developing youth determine how these platforms function and how relevant they are within our lives.
In fact, there is even a segment of marketing called social media marketing that hones in on the web traffic that we “hip young people” are actively creating. Who said money can’t buy happiness? Because in my eyes, money pays for my Internet and my phone bill. That my friends in the shallowest of meanings is happiness.
No Twitter + No Instagram = No Social Life
It’s a simple concept to grasp.
The CEO’s of this world have begun to catch on to this wireless lifestyle and through these social media platforms, like Twitter and Instagram users are apart of a live feed that is constantly updating and marketing new products. In some cases even marketing individuals, (i.e. celebrities).
There are always pros and cons with anything new and up and coming. I will use myself as an example. Say I were to tweet about my new haircut and upload a picture onto Instagram, the reactions would be mild. A few people may like it or some may disapprove. It would be safe to say my personal image would not be harmed and my dignity spared.
To play devils advocate, let’s say Miley Cyrus were to do the exact same thing like posting to Twitter or uploading pictures of her new hair cut, the reaction may be slightly more dramatic (which it was). Cyrus posted to Twitter saying, “If you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything at all. My hair is attached to my head and no one else’s and it’s going bye bye.”
I say preach it sista!
Why is Miley getting a haircut a big deal you ask? Well, her audience is less concentrated and is broadcasted to a wide range of people, unlike my humble, non-famous, self. I don’t have an image to market nor a crowd of dutiful followers who worship me.
For celebrities with so much impact in society Twitter and Instagram is indeed their stomping ground. The pros of being a celebrity on these sites is they have the power to sway a large audience for the better even market products to their followers effortlessly. For companies this is extremely beneficial. Celebrities have the power to make things cool whether they are aware of what they are doing or not.
The cons of being a celebrity on these social media platforms is that the public has a tendency to overreact. A prime example would be the catastrophic melt down society had over Miley Cyrus’s eyesore of a haircut– true story. But like oh-emm-gee that was a brutal hair cut… yikes!
On a less surface level though, celebrities are more scrutinized for careless comments they post due to the fact they are in the limelight. A posting on Twitter that may have been meant to be a sarcastic remark might possibly be misinterpreted by the public, thus, creating a torrential down pour of media coverage tearing them apart.
“Whoops,” is right.
Back to the average Joe’s of the world like you and I, Twitter and Instagram is what I refer to as “big kid toys.” We use these platforms for fun they serve us no real purpose. We don’t have large name brands to advertise or have to be concerned about the media cracking down on us for some posting gone awry. We are plain and simple just using these for our leisure. Like celebrities we have pros and cons to using these platforms only the consequences aren’t as drastic and the pros are only mildly beneficial because like I said, they’re like toys to us.
The bottom line is: understanding the limits to our (referring to both celebrities and average Joes’) unlimited media use. There are unspeakable boundaries and fine lines that must not be crossed. It all comes down to common sense that isn’t all too common at times.
So just a reminder, not to sound like your mother, but the Internet is like a black abyss, a life sucking black hole. Once you post something it is forever out there for the world to see and your current or future boss to find.
DUN-DUN-DUNNN.
It’s a terrifying yet true thought. We all lead these double lives, one average day-to-day life we all live, and the love to envy, glorious, online life we all post to Twitter and Instagram.
Let the take away of this be as simple as thinking though a complete thought on Twitter or deciding to leave a little mystery on your Instagram feed before you post something to the Internet. Then give yourself a pat on the back and a gold star for being a grown up and using your brain.
Now excuse me, while I Instagram my lunch.