I’ve never quite understood the usefulness, or uselessness, of social media. Take for instance the platform formerly known as Twitter: millions of active users giving a peek insde of their personal lives on a daily basis. I admit being a frequent user of this site, but I try to be careful what I post there. I try not to post about anythingI would consider personal. Mostly family. I always find it curious that some people wiill post the most intimate details of their life to millions. of complete strangers.

I see a lot of posts concerning deaths of a loved one. Why, I ask myself, do people post this heartbreaking information to the world? Does this somehow alleviate the emotional pain or (being cynical) are they looking for sympathy. What’s the latter called? Seeking attention. Maybe no one else around them pays any attention anymore (I wonder why?) so they enlist complete strangers to fill that gap in their lives.

That’s just one affectation. Another is posting photos of yourself and your family. Again, to complete strangers. I’m fairly certain this is a bad idea. It doesn’ttake too much to then figure out where someone lives /8based on other posts) and possibly placing yourself and family at some possible risk. I know some are reafing this thinking I’m just paranoid, and maybe I am a little. I’d rather be a little paranoid and be safe than face the consequences of being too free with my personal information.

And isn’t popularity on any social media platform rather fleeting? One day, you’re the talk of the timelines, the next, you’re “who?”. In the last decade I’ve seen a lot of people rise to the top of their game and then make a precipitous fall from the same, never noticed again. You can still hear their cries in the wilderness. No one cares anymore.

People won’t change though as long as they believe they’ll remain “popular” (whatever that entails) in the. minds of at least some people. The rest of us have already moved on…