I have a love hate relationship with Facebook. In contrast to other social media, where I really do one or two things, Facebook is selfish. It wants all of me. It's a greedy black hole constantly begging for more photos - PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! - more updates, more tagging, more comments, more likes, more, more, more. At what point do we just decide to hell with text books kids, Facebook or it didn't happen!
I left Facebook back in June and wrote it about it here. I did it partly as a joke - that I was moving to Google+ which I explained was like moving to the woods - and partly because I had Facebook exhaustion per the above. Here are my top takeaways from using Google+:
- I didn't use Google+ at all, really
As expected, it really was like going to the sticks. There's NO...BOD...Y... out there folks. I mean ziltch. No sideboob pics from Vegas. No football sh*t talk. No relationship meltdowns. None. And you know what? BOOOOORINGGGG. I have to say I missed the action and I came to a few usable conclusions as a result. Possibly my initial exhaustion is less about Facebook and more about the other social media I use as well. What if I turn the tables, get rid of Foursquare, Path, Twitter, and so on? So, that means my keeper league really becomes:
- Facebook. The king of peers. All my friends and fam are there. I have a private group with my best friends who live far away. I have learned that you don't need to be on the thing all the time and responsible usage can be a positive experience. I'm back.
- LinkedIn. I use it for business, I think most of us do, and it's just sort of there as another contact sheet. Usefully idle.
- Yelp. C'mon, who doesn't use Yelp. Like I want to just happen upon the only 2-star Ethiopian restaurant or one eyed optometrist in town.
- Twitter. But I'm on the fence with it. Sometimes I get some good links or chatter but most of the time it's a shower of babel and robots talking to each other, right?
- Instagram. Hands down my favorite of all these. I love seeing life through other people's "eyes"; the picture saying a thousand words and the poster tagging it with some context.
I think Instagram is the best of social because of its simplicity and impact. Photos (can be) beautiful and the most articulate way to actually share an experience with someone. I get inspired when looking at Instagram. I don't feel necessarily inspired with Facebook (in fact it depresses me sometimes with all the BS everyone posts), but what I do get from Facebook, that I don't get anywhere else, is the telephone effect. I have everyone I know on speed-dial all the time. I am never not connected. I am never not aware. I guess that is pretty cool.
It took some time away to help me figure out the value in that. Plus I missed brutally destroying my friends in comment threads. Because we all remember that time in college when our buddy lost their wallet to a [redacted] in Cabo. And we need to remind them. All the time. On Facebook.
OK, now your turn. Hit the comments section and let me know what your favorite social platform is and why.