Please, don’t be that Guy!

Desirea Roberts
Sep 5, 2018 · 2 min read

Socially Defined

Social media is a collection of online platforms and tools that people use to share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media itself, facilitating conversations and interactions online between groups of people. Social Networking is the act of connecting on social media platforms.

That’s what it’s defined as but oftentimes the last thing we do is really connect with people. In fact, most of the artist that I enjoy from a musical standpoint, I observe them act, respond and engage irrationally on social media platforms. So, how has social media “socially defined” us? How has it shaped our morale? How has it desensitized our humanity? Many ethical questions arise as I attempt to define how social, social media is.

Social Change

In a Podcast, Mark Schaefer stated, “the days of innocence and fun on Facebook are over. The platform has devolved into a cacophony of constant political unrest, maybe permanently. A lot has been written over the past few months about the anger on Facebook, mass de-friending, free speech, etc. Here is an observation … The Facebook news stream is a profoundly ineffective agent for social change. Your friends who support you, will support you. Your friends who don’t, won’t”.

A culture that created a platform to be social inadvertently becomes unsocial. If his analysis is true and Facebook isn’t the platform for social change, how do we address the ethical errors in society, while maintaining an ethical approach online?

More Than A Like

Finally, the bread and butter of this entire blog post. For brevity sake, I’ll get to the point. If ever there was a time to stand, it’s now! Whatever your post, whatever share, whatever social change you’d like to be a part of, do it for more than a measly like. “Social networks do best when they tap into one of the seven deadly sins,” the LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist said. “Zynga is sloth. LinkedIn is greed. With Facebook, it’s vanity, and how people choose to present themselves to their friends.” Those sins can also create mishaps on social networks as well. Be relevant, but considerate. Everyone may not share your view but that doesn’t entitle you to spew hate speech. Be passionate but be lawful. (I get that you hate your job but don’t post that while you’re at work and they distribute your check. Yes, you can be FIRED!) In all the ways we have access to connect, let us connect! Let’s change the world! #3233

Desirea Roberts

Written by

I’m just a small vessel in God’s grand design.

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