The problem with social media

Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. Snapchat. We all have atleast one of them. Some of us have all of them. I can't speak much for Snapchat or Twitter as I don't use those. I mostly use Facebook and Instagram.

I usually use my Instagram account for posting my makeup pictures and products. Generally, I don't have much of a problem with Instagram. That being said, I rarely ever say anything on there. If you do happen to post anything, everyone comes for you. It's common knowledge that those who don't agree with you (and there are many MANY people who will not agree with you) feel the need to post their dislike of your opinion. No one wants to leave it alone. They MUST profess their hatred of your opinion and they MUST tell you why you are wrong in feeling whatever you felt in the first place. That aside, I rarely ever deal with alot there.

Facebook though... that is a whole other ballgame. Scrolling down my newsfeed last night, I realized how ridiculous of a place Facebook actually is. Sometimes I question why I even have a profile on there anymore. What started out as a new place to keep in touch with family and friends quickly became a place for everyone to compete with everyone else. A place for mass marketing scams and a place for everyone to tell you how wrong you are for everything you post.

It's become some weird trend to post a controversial picture on Facebook (ex. someone burning the bible, someone kicking a dog in the face, someone beating a child or slapping a woman) and to put a caption on it that says something along the lines of, "Like in 5 seconds if you would stop this in real life." I have questions...

1. Why is this timed?

2. Why would anyone post something like this on Facebook anyways?

3. If I 'Like' this photo, is it gonna magically stop someone from beating their wife?

4. What if I 'Like' it in 7 seconds?

I don't understand. Can anyone explain this to me? What is that? I'm not gonna 'Like' the picture in any amount of seconds in the first place because I refuse to spread around your horrible pictures. Now, if I see someone abusing their spouse or child in real life, Hell yeah I'm gonna do everything I can to stop it! But I am not going to go on Facebook and click 'like' on your picture of spousal abuse or animal rape. Sorry...

Let's talk about the people that update every five seconds with a photo that they somehow included their face in? Why must you put your stupid face into every single photo? It'll say something like, "Just bought new shampoo!!" and then they will have a picture of themselves holding their shampoo up to their face like it's a grammy or something. Also, they don't just put all of these stupid photos into one album... no no. They make it their wall post and share multiple copies on everyones newsfeed. Why? Why do you do this?

Then we have the people that make about 4 or 5 completely irrelevant to everyone else's life status updates. You have 532 friends and you feel the need to share with them all that you just had a tic tac.. or that you swallowed your gum.. or just changed your tampon? You did not need to share that with your 532 friends. You didn't. No. Just No.

Then there are the hashtaggers. You know them. The people who feel the need to add multiple hashtags to everything. Irrelevant hashtags nonetheless. Run-on hashtags. They will post something like "Going to grab some food" followed by this #hungry #fastfood #yum #YOLO #food #whyamisohungry #areyouhungrytoo #irememberwheniwasakidiatefriesandilovedthem

Please. Please stop this.

And while we are on the subject of hashtagging, can we also cover this YOLO business? I and everyone else can acknowledge that you only live once. We do. We understand this. But why... WHY must you hashtag it and say #YoLo? on every. Single. Post?!

Another thing we have are those people that post song lyrics every 2 seconds. One status per hour that consists of things like this, "Hey. I just met you.. and this is crazy.. but here's my number, so call me maybe." If I wanted crappy lyrics spewed at me, I would just turn on the radio. It's not that I don't like music. It's just that some of the lyrics today are pretty average. Like when Miley Cyrus rhymed "Tamed" with "blamed". Or when Pitbull rhymed "Kodak" with "Kodak". mmhmm...

Then... the groups. You like a group because it has a funny name or whatever. Then the group puts out life status updates all the time and posts photos and other things completely irrelevant to what the groups name is. I liked this group because I have an interest in art. Not because I wanted to know every intimate detail of the group admins personal life. I don't need to know about your girlfriends new set of breasts and how much she loves the new car you just bought her. I don't need to know that you have a cat named Ralph and that he sometimes pees in your shoes.

Let's talk about the Facebook cliques! You know them. They post all of these tagged status updates and tag all of the same people over and over again. "Great night!!" TAG Katy, Britney, Jessica, Greg, Ryan, Piper, Chloe, Chantelle, David, and Josh.

Umm.. are you gonna elaborate on that? Are you gonna let other people know why it was such a great night? I'm curious now. You've intrigued me. What was so great about this night? Nothing...? No..? Ok.

These same people usually have albums called "out with a crowd" or "getting rowdy with the crowd on a saturday night.. yo.. word!" They then fill these albums with a bunch of pictures trying to look cool with some random bottle of whatever. I do not need to see pictures of you with a drink in your hand where you have positioned the cup or bottle to where you can read the brand of alcohol. I don't need to see the pictures where you have a cigerette in your hand trying to look all badass. It's more embarrassing when you comment on your own picture something like, "OMG am I holding a ciggy?! Oh wow! I am so embarrassed! Don't tag me in this! I won't make it my default, kay?! Don't do it!"

Then a week later, you see that same person... they've tagged themself in this allegedly embarrassing photo and there it is... their default picture.

The notification messages... Oh Lord, the notification messages. "Sandra needs your help on their farm!" "Come join the fun, Barn Buddy!" "Come deep dea diving in Fishville!" "Josh has sent you a leaf in Rake City!"

OMG.. I can't stress this one enough. I. DO. NOT. CARE. ABOUT. YOUR. FARM! I don't want to play fishville, yoville, farm town, frontier land, gardenville, or any other crapville you want me to play. I do not want your rake city leaves. Please stop!

Now, that being said... let's get to the ooey gooey core of the real problem on social media. Politics. Now, this one is a touchy subject. We all have our beliefs. We are all allowed to have them. What we aren't allowed to do is to spread our opinions around like wild fire and expect everyone else to feel the same way you do. A facebook post never changed anyones political views. Never. Getting mad because others don't feel the same way you do is as effective as trying to put out a fire with hair spray.

Now, I am not saying don't share any political posts. What I am saying is that it is perfectly acceptable (and encouraged) to scroll past something you don't agree with on Facebook without leaving a rude comment. Civil debates are totally cool. Nothing wrong with having a heated discussion if its kept friendly... but what are we really gaining by calling each other foul names or deeming everyone who doesn't agree with us "uneducated"? Please stop. You are the absolute worst of the worst.

I know that social media in itself is not the actual problem. The real problem is the way people decide to use it. It could be a pleasant place if everyone didn't feel the need to be rude and overly opinionated about everything. I think it's great we all are able to have our own opinions. I think it would be greater if people would learn how to be respectful of everyone and their opinion without being a total jerkwad. But, that is just my two cents. Happy networking.