What's the best social media site besides this one?

[slb2]

Do you like social media? Hate it? Tolerate it?

I love it. I love to interact, I love to write, I love to put it out *there* to be read/heard.

I don't love unloving comments, comments with no value, comments intended to harm or ridicule others. 

I enjoy Facebook, but also find it consuming. That's about the only social media site I use except for here. I don't genuinely do Twitter, Instagram, blogs, pintrist or any of those others. 

You?

[BoatBabe]

Hmmmmmm, I'm not much of a fan of social media. Surprisingly, I don't consider this site to be "social media." Nothing written here is ever going to go viral. Bazillions of people are never going to suddenly stop by and vote on whether or not they like what we say. Nothing said (or written) here will ever be broadcast on the evening news as a "news" story.

When I need a break at work, I'll surf news sites to see what's going on in the world, and I get all of the social media "news stories" I can tolerate. At least I have the option of scrolling past the headlines I don't want to read, unlike the evening news that has turned into ads for their latest new drama airing right after this broadcast, and a report on social media activities. There's no escape.

[liriodendron]

I belong to several local Facebook groups. I don't know if I "like" them, but it is a good way to find out about things that are going on in town (particularly since our weekly town paper folded).

I belong to a couple of other message boards that are based on common interests. I pop into those every day or so to read, but don't comment very often. I use Pinterest to find craft ideas for work, but that's it. I don't tweet, instagram, snapchat, or whatever else the kids have come up with these days.

I used to spend more time engaged with social media/message boards before I started working full time. I do enjoy interacting with the people I've "met", but I tend to gloss over most of the political stuff, which probably helps.

[BoatBabe]

Yes, and I'm sorry to sound like my grandparents who did not own a television, and we couldn't understand how they could be so backward thinking. We sat around their dinner table in the kitchen discussing the working we did that day and needed to be done the next day, did the dishes together, went out to the living room and continued conversations while reading. It was pretty boring for young kids. Looking back, it was the lives they were used to living and they were happy with it.

Here in Ballard we have many places where historical pictures are hanging, even in my dental office. I am enthralled with these pictures. There are groups of people gathered on street corners talking. Couples are walking down the ample sidewalks. The wide streets are shared by horses with wagons or carriages, open-topped cars, and trolleys, with no traffic lights at the intersections. The men are all wearing suits and hats, most with walking sticks. The women are wearing long layered dresses with cinched waists, most with feathered hats. The people are all standing up straight and tall, looking around, waving at each other, peering into store windows or at the produce selections of open markets, and engaged.

I often compare these historical pictures to what a "Day in the Life of Ballard" picture looks like now. Closed-topped cars and busses fill these wide streets in two lanes going both ways, sitting in long lines behind traffic lights, plus the parked cars on both sides. All of the mostly solo men and women are hunched over looking at something they hold in their hands. Women run with long strides as they push 3-wheeled strollers, pushing their babies with one hand while holding something in front of their faces with the other hand. Store entrances are flanked by people sitting on the sidewalk with filled shopping carts beside them, holding something in front of their faces, with signs written on cardboard begging for money. Some have fallen to the side, covered with blankets, sleeping. There are several men in wheelchairs with cut-off legs and brown cardboard signs, holding something in their hands that they hunch over to see. It's a different picture.

[doctork]

Boatbabe, I have been struck by similar thoughts when I observe the "primitive societies" on my mission trips. They usually do not have electricity or indoor running water, as the running water is outside in a stream or a spring. They spend about 4 hours a day on necessary chores of survival - tending small crops, catching fish, repairing the thatch roof, making/repairing clothing, and preparing meals.

The rest of their times is theirs to enjoy - dancing, singing, ceremonies, telling stories, talking with friends, neighbors and relatives.

Sometimes one family has electricity (a generator I guess) and maybe a radio or TV, and they may share it with others for a small dose of "civilization." I met one 10-year-old boy in Ghana, a fifth grader who spoke perfect idiomatic American English, and when I asked how he learned it, he said "from watching the TV." In this part of Ghana, most kids who go to elementary school learn English, as it is an official language of Ghana, but most of them are not fluent. And most adults do not remember much of the English they learned in school, because they did not continue beyond grade 6.

So I spend some time on social media - here and on a handful of sites pertaining to my special interests - medicine (these are private and limited to proven MD's and DO's), travel, MS, music, my alma maters' sites. I am technically on Facebook, dating back to its origin as a site for college students when I was in grad school, but I never go there any more. I consider it, have some FOMO (fear of missing out), but decided it isn't worth it because of privacy issues, and the ethics of someone else selling so much personal information about me.

I subscribe to NY Times, WSJ and WaPo and use their websites, read readers' comments but rarely add them. I used Twitter briefly, didn't find any value, and sometimes look at Pinterest if there is a referral from elsewhere to a topic of interest. No Instagram or Snapchat or other "newfangled" sites.

[joew]

I'm on Facebook and Twitter to stay in contact with people I know who are there. The insidious thing about Twitter is that I 'll see a response that I like from someone I don't know, and I decide to follow the person, and it takes longer and longer to scroll through everything. Facebook is also good for keeping up with people, but recently they've changed how posts from friends appear, and I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting As with Twitter, it's taking an increasingly long time to scroll through everything. And then there are the videos of cute animals on both. So I'm sticking with them, but I let them take too much of my time.

[Jane]

I use pinterest to get ideas for lessons with my dyslexic child. I'm with her two hours a week, and I have to keep her engaged and actively learning. The boards are compatible with the Orton Gillingham method of teaching children with dyslexia, and that's how I was trained.

I go to instagram to see photos from a few people only, mostly my granddaughter.

I follow maybe five people on twitter and never, ever tweet.

Facebook is a massive time suck. I have learned to rapidly scroll past anything about tRump, as I cannot bear to even look at his face. At someone's request, I post a poem every Friday, and I usually try and post things my littles have said on the days I volunteer.