So, in an effort to not be a lazy blogger, each week I’m going to pose a question. I’ll give my answer of course, if I have one. This week, I want to talk about social media, because I’ve never had such an intense love-hate relationship with anything else… okay, except maybe Zesty Doritos. They give me monster migraines, but damn, they’re so fucking tasty.

Anyway, most of the time I love social media. It’s been an invaluable tool for me in my writing career, and I’d be lost without it. On the other hand, I find that the massive amount of stupid out there is sometimes magnified (if not multiplied) by social media. This annoys me. It’s why I’ve stopped joining writing groups (unless I know the group’s admins) and I don’t engage in any conversations involving politics or religion. Just too much stupid to have a meaningful discussion. I get really annoyed when someone (who is clearly wrong) decides that a wrong “answer” is just their opinion, so they aren’t actually wrong, when they really are, but their feelings are about to be shattered, so the person who is “right” has to just walk away, and let the wrong person keep believing they’re right, when they’re so very wrong.

I admit when I’m wrong. It’s nice to know that, so in the future, I’m more informed, and not running around ignorant of things. Right? think that if you don’t know the answer to something, you shouldn’t just guess. Look it up. I mean, the Internet makes it possible to find the answer to ANY QUESTION. Why do people still just make shit up? Do they not realize how ignorant they seem? For example, in a writing group I’m not going to be part of much longer, they were discussing the difference between porn and erotica in terms of literature. It was mind-boggling to see how many people answered “Porn is film. Erotica is written.” Um, what? Or “Erotica is artistic. Porn is not.”

The best was the guy who thought anyone who read porn or erotica had an unhappy sex life. Probably quite the opposite, buddy.

I also hate how social media seems to have fostered a culture where everyone’s feelings are delicate and more important than anything else. I mean, come on. What happened to “Oh, I don’t like that, so I’ll just move along.”? I’m afraid to offer an opinion, even when it’s asked for, because I know how it’ll end. I’m blunt, most of the time, and I don’t have the patience to sugar coat shit for the sensitive types. Better to just keep moving than risk starting a shit show, right?

Well, personally, I don’t think it should be this way, but I don’t see it changing any time soon.

But I still really love social media. It’s fantastic more than it’s shitty. (Probably because I ignore a lot of things, but hey, that’s allowed.)

So, while social media is great for marketing and even keeping me entertained, it’s also really awful. This is a weird dichotomy. I want it to be wonderful all of the time. Is that so much to ask?

What are your thoughts? I’ll be devastated if we lost social media, but it’d be nice if we could all just get along. (There’s the optimist poking her head out for a rare visit with the world)