[october] Social Media Free Month

Scatterbrained · Sep 26, 2016

Dikkie said:
Scatterbrained said:

I guess I'd have to be on social media to give up social media. . . . .unless you're counting forums.

Click to expand...

You ARE on social media, you have a Flickr, Instagram, 500px and 1x account in your sig...

Not a request for others people, but maybe for myself I'm going to take a break on forums for a month too... not decided yet.

True, although the amount of time I spend on all of those sites combines pales in comparison with the amount of time I spend simply reading the news in the morning.

robbins.photo · Sep 27, 2016

Dikkie said:
Can I? Yes, just answered the question above.
Can you? you say yes, but you don't want to prove it, so theres no reason to believe you.
Participate and after a month we'll talk again.

Is it any of your business what I do with my time? Nope. Do I need to prove to you I can stop using social media? Nope, because, again, it's none of your damn business as we've previously established on multiple occasions.

See, your not my dad. So you have no say in the matter whatsoever. Truthfully even when my Dad was still alive, he'd have no say in the matter since I'm well over the age of 18, pay my own bills and didn't require his permission for such things. However if he felt the need to say something, I would have listened because I always respected his opinion.

Your opinion is frankly completely meaningless to me. So again, if this is your desperate to parent someone, go have kids of your own. Big Hint, that will actually require you to spend less time on social media harassing other people about there social media usage.

Gary A. · Sep 27, 2016

I'm all for a Free month of social media. (If the month is Free who picks up the tab for my cell phone and Internet connection?)

mckownphotography · Sep 27, 2016

I don't understand the purpose of the challenge. This is like saying ... Stop using your phone for a month .. restrict all communication to only those lucky enough to catch you in person somewhere .. go live in the 80s LOL

Why not come up with a challenge that actually benefits people in some way .... Stop eating McDonalds for a month ... Stop throwing trash out of your car window .. stop smoking .. or a million other bad things people do every single day

robbins.photo · Sep 27, 2016

mckownphotography said:
I don't understand the purpose of the challenge. This is like saying ... Stop using your phone for a month .. restrict all communication to only those lucky enough to catch you in person somewhere .. go live in the 80s LOL

Ok, see now that actually makes some sense. I looked good in big hair. Lol

JacaRanda · Sep 27, 2016

I hope not many try this. What I read on social media scares me. Seriously hoping most of those people are inside and stay occupied with social media.

limr · Sep 27, 2016

Sure, there can be negative effects of spending too much time on social media, but who defines "too much"? This kind of month-long fast suggests that ANY use of social media is causing negative effects to ALL who use it, so we all should eliminate it to go do "real" things. This ignores the fact that for some, connecting to people socially through the Internet is just as real as anything in their non-virtual worlds, and that this isn't automatically a bad thing. People suffering from physical disabilities, illness, crippling social anxiety, agoraphobia...or even people whose business depend on social media...are they also "addicts" who need to break their bad social media habits?

It can be a welcome, healthy break to unplug from devices, from social media, from technology once in a while, because yes, we can become a bit lost in them at times. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. But a much more realistic break is a day or two. The people who would even consider avoiding social media for an entire month are the ones who don't need to in the first place.

table1349 · Sep 27, 2016

ClickAddict · Sep 28, 2016

Considering many people use social media as a marketing tool for their business, (Myself included: 90-95% of my business comes from word of mouth via FB) quitting it for a month and ignoring my clients messages makes perfect sense. Where do I sign up??? www.businesssuicide.com?

smoke665 · Sep 28, 2016

The only problem I have with FB and other social media is the tendency for people to say things online that they wouldn't say in a face to face conversation. Also without benefit of facial expressions things said in jest are easily misconstrued. I do enjoy the contact/pictures with friends and family that I would otherwise miss due to distance or time.

Though I occasionally use texting, I still despise it. I've never understood why anyone would want to spend 30 mins texting back and forth when a 3 min phone call would handle it.

limr · Sep 28, 2016

Dikkie said:
Well I first thought to start a campaign like 'social media free DAY', but I was already clearly seeing the reactions of how ridiculous it would be to stop for only one day. There's no challenge on it. If that would already be a challenge, it says a lot about 'social media' and 'addiction'.
To go offline for only one day, you can't clear your head with that.
If smokers would stop for only one day, it won't change anything, they won't feel a cold turkey for example...

Maybe you can't, but perhaps others can. Saying that it's "ridiculous" to stop for "only one day" is arrogant. How could you possibly know what it might take for a person who is not you to stop using social media for a day? How could you know how it might affect a person who is not you? And once again with the smoking metaphor, you are assuming that everyone who uses social media is addicted to it instead of just using it for a purpose and then going on with their lives. Some of us understand moderation.

Look, obviously people have issues with this, not because they think it's a terrible idea to take a break from social media, but because the suggestion is unrealistic and it was presented judgmentally. If you want to take a month-long break, then good for you. If you can actually do it, even better. But the underlying assumption in your invitation to join you is that if you need that much time, so does everyone else, and if they say otherwise, they are just too addicted to admit it. The reality is that people are different, and you shouldn't assume that you know our needs and our minds better than we do.

limr · Sep 28, 2016

smoke665 said:
Though I occasionally use texting, I still despise it. I've never understood why anyone would want to spend 30 mins texting back and forth when a 3 min phone call would handle it.

I agree with you in this situation. Sometimes my boyfriend and I will send a text or two, realize that we have more to say than we can bother with through texts, and then just call each other. On the other hand, with some of my friends, I'm more likely to be dealing with the opposite situation. In those cases, something that could be handled with a few quick texts can easily turn into 20-30 minutes of useless small talk that I really can't be bothered with. Plus, I hate talking on the phone.

robbins.photo · Sep 28, 2016

Dikkie said:
No **** Sherlock... I already knew I'm not your dad...

Then why the continued insistence in pretending that you are, or that you have any say in my or anyone elses life and how they live it?

You already said it's none of my business in the quote above...
If you don't feel addressed, don't get involved in this discussion and do something more meaninful for yourself.
But then again, I'm not your dad telling this to you...

But I am doing something meaningful. I'm participating in social media, which is meaningful for me.

Truthfully even when my Dad was still alive, ....

time to get over it...

Get over what? The loss of one of the best men I ever knew? Wow. So your not only judgemental and pushy, your also quite callous. Ok, good to know then.

I know, only your dad may talk to you... So, no one will ever have to talk to you, because it can be meaningless to you... unless your...

Wow... I think I'm starting to understand why you hate social media so much. Your reading comprehension skills apparently leave a lot to be desired.

So if they search excuses for not to join, it's a sign of addiction.

So anyone that doesn't participate is automatically branded an addict. For those of you keeping score this means we've now come full circle and are back to full blown judgy mode.

Best part, you keep engaging all of us on... duh duh duh.. .social media to champion your cause. But of course your not an addict because somehow you magically fall below addict level on your number of posts per day/week/month/year which of course is a number determined solely by... you.

Funny how that works...