Why Social Media Helps us Poop: Revamped
Communication. The primary focus of today’s generation. For some reason, we feel the need to be connected to our friends and family at ALL times, even when we “do the deed” on the throne of John. For most millennial’s, communication has come through the form of social media. Whether it be Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, or some other form of instant messaging, communication is at its fastest rate since the telephone was invented.
Social media shares information on a global scale so that all of your friends know where you are and what you are doing with one short post. We share our stories, and our lives with everyone in one click of a button. It is the main communication link to the outside world and friends that we may not see anymore. The Internet provides a “combination of speed, interactivity, and reach that allows people to come together around shared interests, transcending local communities in ways that may be personally empowering…” (Baym, 2015, p. 110). The Internet can tell us many things but it cannot tell us what our best friend from thirteen years ago had for breakfast in Rome yesterday. After all, if you didn’t take a picture of your food, did you even go out to eat?
As a social media manager, I work with social media daily. I have come to believe that social media is about impacting the lives of the people who follow you with something beneficial. A simple positive post will make all who see smile and maybe even think twice about a topic. With businesses in particular, social media seems to be a strong marketing topic. Positive posting, in particular, is a form of marketing that many businesses take part in. As many companies do not want to insult their customers, posting courteous remarks is a strategy popular in 2015 and 2016. This technique is used to connect with customers and to get them to interact and engage with the company with a positive attitude. Generally, people react to this kind of campaign as if the company cares for them and understands what they want. Social media takes a part in this paradigm as the consumers can control the spectrum. Social media gives people ‘faceless’ profiles, which allows them to create a different lifestyle. These businesses who market through social media, take on the same concept. They have to form their companies brand through each photo, video, or word posted. Each social media platform has different connotations or rules. Typically, Facebook posts are more about life updates or interesting facts, Instagram is about interesting photos, and Twitter is about short thoughts or snappy remarks. The 140-character limit is an interesting factor for Twitter, as people have to shorten their thoughts to make one clear, point.
The thing that fascinates me about social media is the types of comments people are willing to make. Through the Internet, people can mask themselves to post their true thoughts and feelings about anything they wish. It surprises me how many people post to social media without thinking about it. In the future, I think social media will be imbedded in our bodies. That way, we don’t need to worry about losing our phones between the couch cushions when we want to talk to our friends.
