Some Thoughts On Social Media

I went to a coffee shop today to work on jokes, but ended up getting sucked into a conversation with Articulate Coffee Shop Guy.  I have met this type of guy before. He can usually be found in an independent coffee shop with vegan options and couches that look like they were salvaged from the Good Will. I normally put the kabosh on conversations with random Coffee Shop Guys by turning to my computer with laser focus, but I didn’t because he started discussing my new favorite topic: social media.

“I’m getting burned out on Facebook and Twitter,” I told him. “Thinking of going on a social media detox.”

“Twitter, Facebook…it’s the beginning of decognition,” he said ominously.

Fancy word.  I like it. What does it mean?

I put on my Super Geek Hat and looked it up in this thing called the Dictionary.  “Decognition” doesn’t exist.  However, the word “cognition” means the act or process of knowing, and de- is the Latin derivative for “undoing” or “removal.”

“Twitter is silencing the analytical brain,” he went on.  (I, frankly, couldn’t get him to stop).

The most interesting part of the conversation was that it took place in RL (Real Life).  I can’t imagine a discussion of the evils of social media on a social media site.  My current old school favorite author, Marshall McLuhan famously wrote that the “medium is the message.”  But would he tweet that? Or a picture of his sandwich?

I began working with this thing called “The Internet” at my job at GeoCities in 1997.  My first assignment was to scroll through the GeoCities pages looking for sites with “inappropriate content.” I dug this whole “surfing” the web thing and found a lot creativity.  I remember one site dedicated to the 70’s furniture interior color of “Avocado Green.”  I thought it was so cool that somebody made a website specifically about the color of their childhood.  Then came blogs, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter…and now in a few flickers of light I will know about your shoe purchase, cupcake creation, break-up, or feelings about a sucky day.

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There’s this other writer named Plato. (You may have heard of him). He once wrote that most people live in a metaphorical cave and “only see their own shadows or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave.”   I believe he intended to describe the relationship to life without enlightenment, but it’s safe to say that if he were on Facebook he’d see some MIGHTY FINE LOOKING SHADOWS!

Maybe my shadow Facebook life looks fabulous or weird, but either way I care less and less every day.  What would an authentic Facebook or Twitter post sound like?

“EVERYTHING IS SCARY PLEASE LOVE ME.”

“Are you on Facebook?” I asked Articulate Coffee Shop Guy. I should have known the answer.

“Of course not,” he answered.

Maybe engaging verbal people like Articulate Coffee Shop Guy don’t need outlets like Twitter and Facebook to express themselves.  He had me at “decognition.”  But will I ever read about “decognition” on Twitter?

Just for today, I can think about social media.