Ceci Diaz: Social Media and Me

            
“Yeah, I can live without it.” That’s my rote answer when people notice how connected I am. Of course, I can live without social media, but part of me fears that it would greatly change and affect the quality of my relationships. (Cue all the eyerolls from social media haters.) Think about it: whenever there is a link, video, article, or photo you want to share, we instinctively turn to our respective “accounts” to share with our friends. My face-to-face conversations with friends constantly refer to many of the things we share online, be they YouTube videos, silly memes, or interesting news stories. For all its cons, how can we pretend this isn’t wonderful? Thanks to this, interpersonal relationships have an entirely new dimension.

           
Facebook is almost like a reflex to me, but more to keep up with certain friends who are quite active on it. I’ve never been a chronic album uploader, nor do I photoshop my ~omgpicz~ to change my defaults according to special occasions. Twitter, however, is practically a lifeline. This has become a news source for me, a way to keep up with my favorite celebrities, comedians, writers and fashion lines, not to mention a way to be alerted about special events and deals. All my other social networking has become secondary to Twitter. The site is now a starting point for me exploring other blogs, videos, and articles that I, in turn, share on Twitter. The more I interact on Twitter, the more I appreciate it, and the more I get out of it.

           
I have the embarrassing confession that my first interaction with social media was on a Xanga when I was thirteen and convinced I had great, deep thoughts to share with the world. Somehow, I convinced myself that talking about adolescent boys and the Disney channel was not only providing the world with a unique perspective, but was also incredibly interesting to the world. Obviously, I was disappointed when no one cared. Thankfully, as I matured, so did my social media usage. I love using Twitter for “mind-casting” and “joke-casting;” poking fun at myself is pretty much my specialty.

As much as I use email, I don’t necessarily consider it “social media.” Perhaps my definition is a bit narrow, but, even after thinking about the readings, I think the “heavy” social media requires a sort of unique identity construction and self-presentation that email lacks. I am always on Gchat, and attached to my Gmail, whether on my laptop screen or my cell phone, but I don’t consider it “social media” as much as a convenient way to keep in touch with my close family and friends while at work/in class/etc. 


Ceci Diaz