I love social media, I've been using it for over a decade now and I love it for communicating, keeping in touch with friends, family and for news updates. But I feel like it can also make us so lazy. We read opinions and take them as facts. We read one-sided news without doing our own research. The thing that bothers me most is when people ask questions that they can find the answer to by a quick Google search. I know it is petty and a waste of time to be peeved, so don't come for me. But what is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to social media?

My biggest pet peeve about social media is the word itself. Let us be honest here, social media "actually" removes the social part of communication. Gone are the days when we talk to our friends without the use of a phone or a tablet.

You sound like an old fart. "nobody talks to each other anymore" - Ok, did you actually keep up with all your distant cousins, high school friends, general acquaintances, former co-workers, and every single friend regularly before Facebook existed?

 

I'm not saying there's not been drawbacks, but it's simply changed the method of how we find out stuff about each other. Facebook as the prime example here - Instead of necessarily entering a long conversation, you may simple just read each other's posts to see what's going on. Maybe you comment, maybe you don't, but you see it and know what's going on.

 

Some people don't post though, even if they have a facebook. Do you see them regularly in person or talk to them on the phone regularly? If not, then maybe "Social Media" isn't to blame for people not talking - maybe it's just that it's an easy scapegoat for people when they want to make excuses for not keeping up with others, or for others not keeping up with them. Communication works in both directions, after all

I hate that so many people try to sell me crap that I don't need. For instance, a couple of my high school friends decided to make new private "personal" accounts and then use their original accounts just to advertise for the pyramid scheme business they're currently working for. Why not make a new account for that junk instead of assuming that every one of your current friends wants their newsfeed littered with that nonsense?

There is always a good and a bad effect on anything that we invent. I use Social Media to connect with friends and relatives that are far from me. On the other hand, I don't scroll the updates of my "friends" because I don't have time to see what they think about anything.

My biggest pet peeve about social media is the word itself. Let us be honest here, social media "actually" removes the social part of communication. Gone are the days when we talk to our friends without the use of a phone or a tablet.

 

I understand your point, I just don't know if I agree. Socializing is not only possible in real life, face to face. You can also socialize through social media. It makes it easier for me to socialize and keep in touch with more people at a time. I agree with Zack T here, it just changed the way we socialized, but it didn't take it away.

 

I hate that so many people try to sell me crap that I don't need. For instance, a couple of my high school friends decided to make new private "personal" accounts and then use their original accounts just to advertise for the pyramid scheme business they're currently working for. Why not make a new account for that junk instead of assuming that every one of your current friends wants their newsfeed littered with that nonsense?

 

I feel you on this... I have some friends who enter every giveaway they see, without even checking if it's legit. "Like and share and win a free iPhone X". Okay? But luckily you can unfollow people so you no longer see their stupid posts.

I have some really great, witty friends but they've stopped showcasing it on social media. Everything is a regurgitation of something someone else has said. When I'm going through my newsfeed, I feel like I'm viewing everyone's browser history rather than hearing what's going on in their lives (or their own heads).

I have some really great, witty friends but they've stopped showcasing it on social media. Everything is a regurgitation of something someone else has said. When I'm going through my newsfeed, I feel like I'm viewing everyone's browser history rather than hearing what's going on in their lives (or their own heads).

 

This is what I've noticed on Twitter mostly. When I joined about 10 years ago, it was still about what people were doing. Granted, not everyone thinks that's interesting, but that's initially why I joined. Now it's all just a bunch of retweets, old news stories and recurring memes.

I don't like it when people copy and paste posts that are the modern day equivalent of chain letters. Stuff like, "Copy this and post it if you are really my friend", that sort of nonsense.

 

In general I think that social media is great for keeping up with family and old friends. It's also good for connecting with people that have similar interests, like the history of your home town, or other particular topics.