Reflection on Social Media Usage

Over the course of this semester, my social media habits have not changed greatly. I have toned down my Twitter account a bit, as well as become more involved on the professional networking site LinkedIn. Otherwise I think my habits have stayed fairly similar. I deleted my Facebook account in late August and have fought what little desire I had to reactivate the account. Mainly I miss seeing pictures of my friends’ children growing up and the photos my brother and father post, but I can do without.

My Twitter account, which was profoundly inappropriate, has now been toned down due to the fact that my work colleagues follow me. When I made the decision to accept their follow requests I also assumed a responsibility for the content I post. As it is no longer friends and strangers I am more careful about how explicit or personal my posts are. I believe that some of the in-class discussion we had about self-censorship may have played a role in this shift, but also a bit of my own common sense. In some cases I feel it may be necessary to maintain separate account for different facets of my life (work, school, professional), but that is a bit of an inconvenience.

Also, as we approach the end of the semester, I have become more inclined to find and connect with people on LinkedIn. This activity is closely correlated to my desire to find a job in 6 months rather than class topics.

Overall I think the class topics have been intriguing and relevant, but perhaps more so to those that maintain social media accounts where profiles are the norm. I’m an outlier in that case, aside from my LinkedIn. Largely I’ve found in my own life that political and ethical issues don’t have much bearing on my social media usage. If I don’t know enough about a political topic or movement I don’t want to address it to my 150 followers who may be better informed. On the other hand, I could see myself using Twitter as a sort of grassroots method to recruit voters for the 2012 elections. I’m an enigma.

In years to come, it will be interesting to see how social media becomes more or less prevalent in certain fields (professional networking, music etc.). Especially considering how we – as a generation that grew up on MySpace and Facebook – will adapt.

S.Nelson