Technology and social media, I have a severe love-hate relationship with both. I am willing to bet I am not alone either.
Technology continues to get "smarter" and "faster", or so they claim to. Honestly, I think I have to kind of disagree a little bit. Years ago, I had a basic flip-phone. I could make calls and text with it, so it did what I expected it to. The main reason I picked this phone? Well, there are two reasons. It was a free (refurb) phone and it was purple (purple is one of my favorite colors, and because you don't see purple phones every day, made me love it more). Let me tell you, this phone was awesome! I never dropped calls, missed texts or voicemails, and I dropped this thing at least 1,000 times. It was wonderful, we had a great 3 1/2 year relationship. Yep, I didn't even upgrade when I could have because "if it's not broke, don't fix it". Well, one day I dropped it one too many times and the hinge busted. I couldn't see anything on the screen so the texting was no longer good, but I could still make calls and talk/hear (even if I had to hold it together to do so, lol). I was forced to upgrade, so I went with the iPhone 3. It was a decent phone, it did everything it was supposed to also, and we also had a great relationship until a few years later. It didn't want to hold a charge and the screen would freeze up more often than not. Well because that particular carrier and I weren't on a good relationship with each other, I went with another one (which honestly, I am even MORE unhappy with...but I'm stuck until February 2015) and the iPhone 4. I hate this damn phone! I drop calls like crazy, and can't even use it in my house! The other 3 phones on the same plan work just fine...This is even the second phone they sent me, we've done 2 hard reboots and still no luck. Many times, I don't get messages either...Oh well, sometimes I miss the days when we didn't have to carry these ball-n-chains, especially when the bill comes in!
Now that I am done ranting about technology, let's talk about social media. I love it, and hate it. It is a great tool if used right, but can be used against you also. What a lot of these kids (and I mean pre-teen/teenagers) don't realize is some of the stuff they put on there is just...I don't know the word I want to use here. There's this game a lot of them play, and what they do is put as their status "Rate me" or "Like for truth" or something stupid like that. So other kids respond with "ratings" or they tell the person posting what they think of them...Then they get upset because they don't rank high or get told that they aren't pretty enough to date or something along those lines. Don't we have a big enough problem with bullying? Why would any person purposely subject themselves to that? I don't get it. If I really wanted to know what you thought of me, I would ask you face-to-face, not online where everyone and their brother or stranger can see it. I don't want you to rate me, I may not like what you have to say! So, while bullying really sucks, this only adds to the problem. It doesn't help when these kids subject themselves to it like that. I can't feel sorry for them. It's times like this I am SO glad that Autumn (my 11-year old) doesn't feed into this stupid petty crap. She will even tell you herself it's stupid. This is why I allow her to have a Facebook, she understands what it is supposed to be used for, not some dumb popularity contest like so many seem to think.
While I am ranting on about social media and these kids, here's another thing that annoys me. Stupid self-taken pictures (usually in a messy/dirty bathroom or bedroom) with fish faces (I refuse to call it duck face, because those are made with Pringles, let's get that straight now) sometimes in clothing-or lack thereof-that makes you look like a prostitute in training. Kids really are very self-absorbed and they are in for a serious reality check when they grow up, if they ever do. Also, please utilize a dictionary/thesaurus-if you even know what those are- and spell check. I can't stand it when a certain pre-teen/teenager I know PURPOSELY misspells words. "Yea" becomes "yeaaaaa", "hey" becomes "heyyyyyyyyy", etc. Seriously, it makes it look like you need a new keyboard (in which case, get off your ass and go outside. You spend too much time on the computer/phone) or you just look stupid. That kind of typing does not do you any favors.
Keep in mind, children, that whatever is put on the internet is FOREVER. You can delete it off your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. but someone, somewhere can still pull it up and use it against you. I know this from personal experience, I lost a job that I absolutely loved because I blogged about a problem at work. While I didn't mention names, place, or when it happened, that employer knew exactly what I was talking about. While I still feel to this day I was in the right, she was in the wrong, it doesn't matter...I got fired as a result, even though I had erased the blog. These days, colleges and employers check your social media profiles. If they see you talking likeeeee thissss allllll theeee timeeee or spelling words lyke dis cos it looks kewl, they will look you over and pick someone who looks and acts more intelligent than that. Do you want to miss out on your dream job because you can't make an effort to spell? Or because you posted a picture of yourself at 15 years old getting trashed? Think long term here, boys and girls. I can say that I am glad that social media wasn't around for my teenage, or what I like to call my "young and dumb years" because I probably would have fallen into one of those traps to. I am only grateful that my oldest is smart enough to know this also. Only time will tell about my youngest, though. Let's hope she has enough sense to know better. If not, I am a very watchful mother hawk. I can giveth, and I will certainly taketh if I see that stupid crap go on when she gets her own profiles.
Well, I think I am done ranting and carrying on about my love-hate relationship with technology and social media. After rereading what I wrote, I realized I sound like a grumpy old woman (which I am NOT old, grumpy I can't really argue with) but hey, it's how I feel. Too bad the ones that need to read this, won't. Oh well, you can't help that, you can only hope they learn before it's too late.
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