Is Social Media Boring You?

A recent opinion piece at TechCrunch by Sarah Lacy challenges users experiencing social media fatigue to question what they’ve grown to expect from it, and to remember why they joined the conversation to begin with. The author reminds herself and her readers of those simple moments where the world suddenly seemed much smaller thanks to social media – like when your casual but passionate Tweet actually elicited a comment or response from an alleged ‘expert’ in the subject matter you may have been talking about.

According to Lacy:

But the sites worked too well at amassing fans, friends and followers, creating micro-economies where people sought to cash in on their would-be fame and influence. And that is when the problems—and inevitably the fatigue— started. People competed for how many friends and followers they could rack up and how many RTs they could get in a day, seeing it as evidence of how cool or smart or influential they were. That’s when social media got mercenary and soulless.

Here’s a clue: If you find yourself saying “(Fill-in-the-blank-social-media-site) used to be soooooo much better before everyone was on it”– you are using the site wrong. You are following too many people, you are using it too much, you are strangling the pretty, little bunny. The beauty of these sites is you control how many friends you see, and how many of them see you. So if you used to love it and now hate it, well, you know what they say about when you point a finger. Three are pointing back at you.

This simple observation is applicable to a variety of topics beyond strictly social media: when we task something with too many self-serving objectives, it may eventually cease to satisfy us in delivering on them (we’re not the only ones fighting for those objectives), and send us off searching for the next big thing. But a simple reminder of the very human and simple advantages social media provides (that nothing before it did quite as easily, quickly, or as well) may remind us of the beneficial role it continues to play. It still beats e-mail everyone, or picking up the phone, to see how your ex or dispersed family are doing.

TechCrunch: “If You’ve Got Social Media Fatigue, UR DOIN IT WRONG”