Is social media a waste of time?

**rennigade** · 08-19-2015, 03:44 PM

Different strokes for different folks. I like to golf. A lot of people think thats dumb and a waste of time. Is it? Maybe...but I enjoy it so to me its not a waste.

I dont have social media but my wife does. I think we live in an amazing time. Thanks to social media if something happens on the other side of the globe we can hear about it within minutes. Heck current events now travel faster than the news can report. Thats pretty cool if you ask me.

Another great thing and a terrible thing all at the same time is that everyone has a voice without a face. You can say whatever you want and your identity is hidden. The social justice warrior types are rather annoying but its also nice expressing yourself without worrying about a mob of people with pitchforks showing up at your house.

All in all I think social media is a positive. Can it be a waste of time...yep. You know what else can be a waste of time...fantasy football! I dont get it and I couldnt care less. Im sure some on here would disagree.

**VinceMcMan** · 08-19-2015, 04:09 PM

Yeah I mean certain things about it are still cool. I just don't like chat rooms and forums better. Twitter just seems like a place where famous people talk trash to each other.
And then Facebook is the site where everyone complains but does nothing to not be broke. Top posts I see are people saying they have no money. Yet they spend 10 plus hours posting pointless memes on facebok. I just go to facebook promote make my money and log out.
It was a bit of fun when I first joined. But after seeing the same things over and over it got quite boring!

**rennigade** · 08-20-2015, 04:48 AM

Thats the beauty of social media. You do not have to participate.

**disneysteve** · 08-20-2015, 04:55 AM

Originally posted by VinceMcMan View Post

What do you think of social media? A great thing? Or sometimes just a waste of time?

I can firmly state that it is both of those things - a great thing and a colossal waste of time. It all depends on how you use it.

You mentioned keeping in touch with people you knew from the past. I've done some of that, but the novelty pretty much wore off quickly for the most part. However, there have been a couple of old friendships that really got rekindled and I'm very happy that has happened.

More importantly, though, is using social media to stay in touch with the people who are actively in my life today, both friends and family. Growing up, all of my friends and most of my family lived close to me. Now, we are all scattered around the country: Connecticut, Florida, California, Alabama, Georgia, Rhode Island, North Carolina, etc. Facebook provides a way to stay in touch with all of them for free. I think that's fantastic.

Of course, there is the "waste of time" aspect too. I spend far more time than I should doing worthless stuff via social media. It's fun but there are better things I could be doing.

**ua_guy** · 08-20-2015, 07:58 AM

Like everything that's both good and bad, moderation is key.

On one hand, it's an immutable stream of junk news, senseless rants, political vitriol, and dystopian humor.

On the other, it's been the very key to some very profound discoveries about myself. No, really-- It's how I found my birth family 32 years post-adoption.

It's there when I want it. And the rest of the time I can turn it off for a while until something draws me back in.

**Fishindude77** · 08-20-2015, 08:13 AM

I have enjoyed using it to hook up with old classmates, friends and acquaintances. Enjoy seeing their photos and stories about things going on with their families and lives. Some folks also post up some pretty good humor i find entertaining.

I cannot stand people using it to air their personal dirty laundry, political or religious views. Also don't like folks that continually post all of these pointless little quotes and "motivational posters" that they cut and paste from somewhere else. I mean, how many times to you need to post "Like, if your son or daughter means the world to you" and junk like that?

It's only a waste of time if you allow it to be. Check in occasionally, not fifteen times daily.

**disneysteve** · 08-22-2015, 03:53 PM

Originally posted by Fishindude77 View Post

I cannot stand people using it to air their personal dirty laundry, political or religious views. Also don't like folks that continually post all of these pointless little quotes and "motivational posters" that they cut and paste from somewhere else. I mean, how many times to you need to post "Like, if your son or daughter means the world to you" and junk like that?

I agree.

There's one guy who I've known for years through a Disney club we belong to. I was never great friends with him as he's kind of loud and obnoxious but we had a lot in common otherwise. Well he moved to Florida but friended me on facebook. Well let's just say within 48 hours I had blocked him. I had no idea the depth of hate, racism, sexism, and everything else he spewed out regularly. It had never really come up in our gatherings. At least he had the good sense to keep it under control at our events, but on facebook, he had no filter at all. I don't want to have anything to do with him ever. I hate when we're in Florida now because if he sees on facebook that we're there, he contacts me asking to get together. I have no desire or intention of doing that so I just ignore him. Hopefully he'll get the message and stop asking.

**MaryTres** · 08-26-2015, 06:01 AM

Has its pros and cons. I used to not be able to go to bed before quickly peeking on my Twitter or Facebook feeds lol. If you use it in moderation (just like anything) I think its perfectly fine.

Is social media a waste of time?