I have a love/hate relationship with Social Media

...I just realized i have a previously written blog post called "I have a love/hate relationship with short weeks". Wow-- waita be creative, Allison. Good one.

At any rate, I'm serious. I love social media, but BOY DOES IT DRIVE ME UP THE WAZOO! Let me try to explain this as "efficiently" as possible.

I love Twitter's ability to provide me with a peek into people's world-- get news from Newsweek and he local news station, and in general, someone to stalk and something to use in my down time. I love Facebook's ability to keep people in touch, and to keep people in touch with your doings. I have a place to horde my pictures and show my family at the same time (please note, this negates the need to send 170 pictures to 30 of my "closest friends" and family).

Now, the root of my urge to write this blog is as follows: Twitter (and Facebook) are NOT outlets for you to update 36 times in what day what you're doing, how you're feeling, etc.

Let me provide you with an example. The following is a series of 'Tweets' which a friend that I can't unfollow (it's like a trainwreck-- you don't want to look, but you can't stop looking) posted DURING THE STEELERS GAME last night. I believe said person even went to sleep during the 3rd quarter or something. These Tweets are actually in reverse order from when they were "Tweeted" but you'll get the point. I'll elaborate on what's wrong with this situation afterwards.

Disclaimer: The below Tweets are copied 'as is'. There aren't mistakes with all of the random #Steelers, etc postings. In the Twitter World, there are "trending topics" or things that you think should be, that you type "#" before, and it draws more attention to your tweets... or something like that. I don't do it, and it's really pathetic. Whatever.

# PLEASE "Vote Cute" for LucyLoo in the Cutest #Dog Contest 1x per day per email! Just a click, its not hard at all! http://tiny.cc/jEPqV

# Sick, need sleep, tummyaches, sore, headache, lightheaded, tired....sorry Steelers, bedtime. Get 'em boys!

# I hope Polamalu is OK!!!

# Hmm I wonder what team the refs are favoring?! Hint: NOT the #Steelers!

# With Ben's ehhh performance thus far, I can already foresee the annoying commentators speculating about his recent off-field distractions

# Whaaaat is going on? Come on Ben! O Line! Not another season of sacks!

# U know I'm sick if I'm fighting to stay awake during a Stiller game...ugh...

# Can't mess with Polamalu. And... my Pug Maggie May wants a #Steeler jersey like her mama....Pawlimalu or Rufflisberger...hehehe...

# OMG I wanna be at the game! Pittsburgh Steelertime! Wooo! #herewegosteelers #NFL

# Ahhhh!! Tim McGraw you Sexy Beast! And to think I had VIP tix... :(

# Black Eyed Peas representin' -- Fast Willie go Zoom Zoom ;) #Steelers

# I hate my stupid health. I wish I was down at Point Park for the show :(

# Getting amped for #STEELERS Kickoff.....Stairway to Seven begins tonite...get that 7th Sticky Lombardi...HERE WE GO!! #Pittsburgh


Okay... ahem... here I go. This girl has the ugliest dog on the face of the earth, so being told to "Vote Cute" several times a day is simply going to make me less motivated to do so. In addition, who are you watching the game with? Your boyfriend, or your 1000+ "followers" who you've been sending your 'sports broadcaster' updates to nonstop? SHOW THE STEELERS (and your boyfriend) SOME RESPECT. PUT THE PHONE DOWN!!! Finally, and this may be rude-- but no one cares about your health. Honestly, I'm sorry this girl is sick, but there is a long story behind why most everyone I know has come to find her annoying. In short 1) too many junk e-mails sent from her FOUR accounts, 2) too many pictures sent of her, her dog, her bird, her house (170 pictures sent one day), etc, and 3) again, I'm sorry you're sick, but the multiple-times daily updates about how you're feeling that moment are really really unnecessary. I didn't wake up and let anyone know that my throat kind of hurts and it's making it a bit difficult to swallow.

Anyways, enough complaining about that. In short, it just really annoys me. These are not your "friends" who you talk to all day every day. But you've let it fill a very apparent void.

Another thing that really irks me about these social media sights is when people post something JUST to get a rise out of people. Example: "im soooo thrilled for all u stiller fans. yah, not really. once again jeff reid saves worthless-berger's ass cause he cant move the team down field"

This guy is from the Clarion area-- therefore, should be a Steelers fan. However, he is ALSO the type of person to hate anything someone likes, and to dog it, just to annoy people. It really bugs me, and I really frequently want to yell at him, but I don't want to fuel his fire (honestly, I don't want him talking to me).

AND FINALLY... my final complaint about social media. I am my managers, and my bosses, Facebook friends. Honestly, having my manager as my Facebook friend doesn't bother me-- and having my boss as my Facebook friend WOULDN'T bother me (I don't post anything inappropriate, much less do anything inappropriate... and she's a pretty carefree individual anyways), but... I DO hate when she friends me, has her own account, and a much more 'wild' life than I have, yet, makes passive-aggressive comments making us all feel as though we shouldn't be posting pictures, or status updates EVER. So, you know what I did? I changed my privacy settings and made it so that NO ONE from work, or who had anything to do with work whatsoever, could see my pictures or my status updates... again, not that I do anything wrong on or in them, but I just don't need them involved in that part of my life if they're going to complain. So what do I get yesterday? "We've missed you on facebook-- you've been missing. Where have you been?" Well, ya know what? You made it seem as though you didn't think it was 'cool' to upload pics for my family to see of Dori, or my trip to D.C., etc, so I blocked your ability to see those things. My actual response, though, "Facebook is a good tool to stalk people. I've been otherwise pretty quiet".

So many complaints, so little time. I really do love Facebook, and wouldn't consider getting rid of it, but these things really bother me. As for Twitter, I'm currently contemplating whether or not I can do away with it. I think I mainly keep it for my dad who also occasionally logs on, but perhaps I'll just becomes more active on here. Hmmm... decisions, decisions. I'll stew it over during a nice treadmill session.

#TGIF, Tweets. My throat hurts (feel bad for me), but #Go Steelers!!! Oh, and PLEASE vote for me to be the prettiest princess in all the land, and look at these 126 pictures of my broken left toe. XoxoxoxO :) :) :)

Okay, f'real though, have a great day!