Social media is starting to make me feel a little old

One thing that really amused me this week was several classmates' insistence and argument that facebook was here to stay was based on that it is targeted more to older people. "People grow up and turn to facebook". I realized that that was very possibly true. It was a view that I basically shared myself; just not in so many words. I equated it more with my generation, with my parents' generation hesitantly giving in and joining; only to discover that they really like it and get into it as much - if not more - than my generation. Perhaps it could be because my parents' generation is a little more likely to have a little more spare time, and slightly less responsibility. They are more settled in their careers - not chasing that next big promotion or sale as hard. Their children are grown and have careers and families of their own. Their children are the ones now working 60 hours a week - must throw a jab at the economy here - and still not getting nearly as far as they did working a third of that time; simply because our money doesn't go nearly as far as their's. See also, thirty-something just going to college and/or college graduates that still need to live with their parents because they can't make enough money to survive, with or without the massive debt that they have amassed for a piece of paper. However, that is another blog for another time. Plus, maybe it is a little more of a novelty to them. I am starting to realize, myself, that I just don't have as much time, and especially patience, for social media anymore. It is filled with the overly dramatic, the melodramatic, the attention seeking, the self-loathing (or impossibly positive), the holy rolling hypocrites (again, another post for another day), and the narcissists, etc. - in any combination of the previously mentioned. I am finding it much much easier to NOT worry about missing something that someone posted. If they get offended, I really don't care. Maybe that means I am more mature than the "youngers" (the bonus of growing up: you get to care less about what people think about you - you've earned it - you've done your time). Maybe I am the narcissist; I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy seeing great pictures/videos of kids/animals (animals especially), maybe not all of the amateur photographers with the thousand shots of the exact same thing, or every person's meal, but I certainly appreciate a creative picture/video - bonus if you have a creative tag. Though I am definitely not my husband and cannot just watch video after video after video. I don't have that kind of time (to waste). Or attention span. Mostly time. I'm taking 21 hours people! Be grateful if I say hi to you! I got off track. Don't get me wrong continued: if I am bored and/or unable to do something else productive (typically school related - as ANY moment I have awake is dedicated to SOMETHING that is related to school) to do, or just a few minutes to kill, I have no problem "multitasking" and looking at facebook while I walk to class or sit at my desk waiting for class to start. Maybe opening facebook in spare moments or even as an intentional time-kill could even be a habit. I know that I am a creature of habit. Regardless, I am more and more frequently recognizing the time waste, attention stealer, communication hinderer that facebook, and other social media - even technology in general - are becoming. While it can foster and blossom new relationships, it can rob you of precious time and memories of your current ones; maybe it is even hindering you from starting a brilliant new relationship with a new person sitting right next to you. Or, you could be the type of person that would get further with that person sitting next to you if you were typing to them instead of talking. I'm not here to judge. 

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