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I'm Gen X, and unless you count message boards and HN-like places I've never used social media. Not because I thought "the music of this generation sucks" but
by phil21 8y ago
I'm Gen X, and unless you count message boards and HN-like places I've never used social media.
Not because I thought "the music of this generation sucks" but because it was easy to see the horrific way the Internet was going to go with walled gardens and centralization. I predicted 10 years ago if you uploaded and tagged photos on facebook you were giving up 100% of your privacy forever, as now every single photo of you ever taken (private or in public) will eventually be tracked to a name. I think generations coming up today really missed out on seeing the potential of the Internet, and what's it's become is nothing resembling the dreams of the 90's.
There are far more reasons to be wary and not participate in social media than "I'm just better than everyone".
And yes - it's a huge hit to your ability to continue an active social life. But things like SMS, Instant Messenger phones, e-mail, etc. still exist. The other downside is you tend to collect friends willing to deal with that, so it can kind of put you into a bubble if you don't reach outside your comfort zone.
I've found dating someone with an already established social media presence (e.g. too late to opt out, why bother) is a decent compromise :)
- thosakwe 8y agoThat’s fair. I can certainly understand privacy concerns/just general disinterest in social media as a reason to not use it. The article, though, at least to me, seemed more like it was more about just not using the popular thing.
- coldtea 8y ago>The article, though, at least to me, seemed more like it was more about just not using the popular thing. How's that bad? Being able to resist what's popular is a good thing too. We rely too much on following fashions and trends.
- WalterSear 8y agoResisting things just because the are popular is as effective as doing them just because they are.
- moorhosj 8y agoEffective at what?
- WalterSear 8y agoPursuing one's actual goals rather than letting emotions, arising from identity challenges, guide one's behaviour. Or not, in this case.
- moorhosj 8y agoOf course we wouldn't know that without knowing these people's actual goals.
- WalterSear 8y agoYour comment makes no sense in regards to the parent discussion.
- moorhosj 8y agoFirst, someone said this: ==How's that bad? Being able to resist what's popular is a good thing too. We rely too much on following fashions and trends.== You responded with this: ==Resisting things just because the are popular is as effective as doing them just because they are.== I am pointing out that you have no idea what the motives are and have simply assumed it is "because they are popular". Maybe the reason they want to resist what is popular is in order to spark their creativity or focus on specific niches. You are trying to make value judgements with almost no information.
- ionised 8y ago> The article, though, at least to me, seemed more like it was more about just not using the popular thing. If you're never going to dive deeper than that I can see where your misconceptions come from. Sometimes the popular thing should be avoided, for very good reasons.
- thosakwe 8y agoI've definitely addressed the fact that there are good reasons for not using social media in other comments on this very thread. I'm just saying that not using social media doesn't make you "better" than anybody else. That is literally all I am saying. I might not respond to any more comments after this, because I'll end up repeating myself all afternoon.
- ryandrake 8y ago> And yes - it's a huge hit to your ability to continue an active social life. Also Gen X, also don’t touch social media, and I don’t agree with this at all, despite how much it gets repeated here. Staying away from Facebook has had zero effect on my social life or ability to catch up with friends and family. In fact, I’m busier than ever outside of work and home. I assure you all, there are plenty of ways to keep in touch and maintain an active social life without scrolling through a company moderated ‘feed’ on your phone. The old-school ways still work fine and, as a bonus, don’t require you to be glued to your phone.
- triviatise 8y agois hacker news not social media?
- ryandrake 8y agoMaybe? I guess it depends on how you define social media. It sure has elements of social media, with its up and down voting, and the karma scorecard. People here don’t tend to know each other though and there is no following, re-tweeting, or even lazy image sharing, so I don’t know, is HN social media?
- mywittyname 8y agoIf you were in the dating pool, you would likely agree with that statement.