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  • July 13, 2010
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Social Media Addict Moments/Confessions/Parodies

From Roderick Low's blog-http://expeditusmedia.com/

Jerry founded the Social Media Addicts Association in 2009. He started it so he could rehabilitate people that have come to live through their social media and networking habits. He wanted to help people, teach them the value of real, face-to-face, anti-digital, anti-avatar existences and relationships. He wanted to prove to them that there was more to a name than Mermaidlady29 and that Mermaidlady29 is in fact a real human with a real beating heart and not a steady series of digitally enhanced bird chirps tweeting at varying intervals.

But there are others. Others who haven’t made it as far as the SMAA. Below is a few examples (some true, some not so true) of interesting reactions, ideas and stats that help to ratify the obsessive, compulsive power social media has had over people once they let it creep into their personal lives. Of course I think it’s great, but I know when to stop and just about manage to be away from my laptop/phone without getting the shakes.

1.)  I can only speak in 140 characters

I can only write a CV summary in 140-characters

I can only propose in 140-characters

I can only apologise in 140-characters

I will just stop talking as if my plug has been ripped coarsely from my brain just like what happens in Avatar to Jake Sully after 140-cha—-

Worrying…

2.) A group of Jewish artists got together one day and decided to start a blog sanctifying the Sabbath-the one day of pure rest that has been swallowed up and forgotten by modern society.

Dan Rollman, President/Co-Founder of Universal Record Database finds it harder focusing on regular in-the-flesh conversations than online conversations. He also finds it harder to concentrate on books than online literature.

Michelle Collins, Managing Editor at BestWeekEver.tv said that she can’t even unplug on an aeroplane.

3) National Day of Unplugging

A no-technology day project was conducted at the University of Maryland, U.S.A and the majority of feedback from students who couldn’t text or tweet or update their Facebook statuses were similar to that of drug addicts or alcoholics.  They used words and sentences like ‘anxious’, ‘isolated’, ‘lonely’ ‘felt like a person on a desert island’, ‘almost unbearable’, ‘moody’, ‘flustered’ and ‘annoyed’. They felt ‘disconnected’ and concerned that they were ‘missing out on something’.

One student said that their brain ‘periodically went crazy’, and one even admitted to doing some push-ups then popping some Dramamine (an over-the-counter medicine to prevent nausea and motion sickness) before going to sleep to ‘put me out of my misery’.

Is there something a bit dark about that? Well, certainly a little grey. Taking an anti-vomit pill because you can’t tweet? To be honest, I can’t decide whether that’s funny or sad. In the bigger scheme of things, it’s probably the latter and a fine example of taking it too far and Generation Y are the unlucky victims of this terrible technological taint. They must be saved.

From http://blog.thoughtpick.com by Beirut

4.) What will happen to my blog when I die?

Now the fact that someone has a) pondered such an eventuality and then b) put it down into a blog post and then worse still-that would be c-published it on a well-established blog platform, is just plain weird.

Unless your blog is making you significant dosh-and there are only a small number of professional bloggers who are making good money out of it-then, seriously, don’t even bother clicking on this link. Even if you are-and not to say that it isn’t possible, because it is- your blog is blog, a personal enterprise that by the time you’ve kicked it, I would suggest letting go. And I don’t think you’re body will put up much of a fight over hanging on to ‘the legacy’.

5.) Checking in, updating statuses, posting tweets and blogs are all the new webby, techie, social networking/gossiping/stalking habits taken on by the younger generation as well as the older one. And now from bed, according to a survey run by Retrevo. A staggering 48% admitted to checking Facebook or twitter during the night or first thing in the morning. Half of the under 25 year olds surveyed said they were happy being interrupted with an IM or text during a meal and 11% said they didn’t mind being interrupted during sex. I think enough said really.

6.) I lost my job from FPing-ing too much. (front page posting addiction)

‘I know it’s a problem, but you can’t understand how FPing (front paging) a story makes me feel. Nobody can.’ This is the submission of an out of control unemployed, homeless front-page story grabbing Digg addict. And now his marriage is on the rocks. Ok, ok so it’s a parody but it’s a wonderfully gratifying one, rather like the Social Media Addicts Association’s efforts and talent at taking the piss so beautifully.

In the late 80’s and into the dot.com era the boys with glasses hunched over their computers were the geeks, the ‘computer club’ attendees who the cool kids always enjoyed chastising. But now regular people… that’s right, ordinary people that don’t wear thick rimmed specs but slick, square D&G frames, with iPod’s dangling from their designer jeans and a knack for using cool videos online are the new kind of geek.

And then you have the ‘extreme’ geeks with a penchant for outdoorsy sports, where they can take their phone and tweet while hurling themselves off a bridge attached to a piece of string. But do they take it too far? Does it start to play a significant, life-intruding role in their personal time? How does it affect their families? Seriously. We may laugh at this jolly parody but spending a day with someone glued to his or her phone or ipad can take its toll. Find a balance people.

Mike Masnick at Techdirt-a technology news and blog site- says that it’s not really about the technology but it’s another issue. He says that by focusing on the symptom you are not pinpointing the real issue. Wise words. But it’s probably more fun to blame it on technology, in particular the all encompassing and infectious nature of social media.

Maybe it will literally take over the world one day. Maybe a social media robot will evolve, one that is capable of knowing what everyone is saying in real-time from downloading the data from its mind. Ok, I’m going to stop writing this post now. I think it’s probably important that I do.

P.S.

Take the quiz-how much of a social media addict are you?

I got 46%, which I didn’t think was too obsessed. Well it’s less than half obsessed so I’m pleased with that, but not so low that I’m completely missing valuable info from valuable bloggers and tweeters and hopefully offering something too. Good. Yes, I think I’ll tweet this.  And so it starts…

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