Tag Archives: Instagram

Social media…

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I come from a generation who lived before social media was even thought of. Our social networking was talking to our next door neighbours, actually going to visit people at their house, speaking with people in the supermarket aisles or in the checkout line, conversing with the people we bumped into regularly in the street, or picking up the landline phone to call someone. We didn’t have social media and we didn’t have mobile (cell) phones back then, so I got to do all my crazy stuff without it being posted on social media for the world to hear about it.

My first plunge into social media was with Facebook in 2010, then a few months later I created a Twitter (now X) account and over the years I have accounts on many social media platforms. Some social media platforms, I have multiple accounts.

So here in 2024, I have social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter (Dear Elon Musk, I hate the name X and so I refuse to call your app that, signed me), Instagram, Threads, Snapchat, Bluesky, Clapper, Twitch, Rumble, YouTube, Discord, WhatsApp, Tumblr, Linkedin, Pinterest, Reddit, Messenger, Favorited and of course TikTok.

Some of the apps you probably haven’t heard of as some of these apps are relatively new and others don’t have the huge number of users unlike the mainstream popular apps have.

Why do I have so many social networking apps I hear you ask? Well, I wished I had a great answer but I hear about an app and if I think it’s interesting, I have to find out more and the best way for me to do that is to create an account for that app. I can only learn so much about the different apps by listening to other people talk about a particular app, or find out what information there is from Google.

There is however a content creator on TikTok who does livestreams and he’s on multiple platforms and he challenged his regulars to follow him on at least one other platform, or to follow him on all the platforms he’s on. Several of us regulars opted to follow him on all the platforms he’s on as he thought no one would take him up on that challenge, so he made it a dare to follow him on all the platforms. Apparently there were a few of us who if you dare us to do something, it’s game on, we’re going to do it! Lol

I’ve met some really wonderful people from all over the world through social media, so much so that they have become family. I’ve also met some of the most entitled, toxic, drama filled a$$hol3s as well on social media who have earned their rightful place on a blocked list but the good people outnumber the bad ones.

I enjoy learning about people, I enjoy seeing the parts of the world they live in, I enjoy talking to people and it’s all in real time. Whether I’m watching a livestream and typing comments in the chat, or in a guest box talking with people, it fascinates me as social media in general has made the world a smaller place to live.

There are however some aspects of social media I do not like. I detest the keyboard warrior’s who hide behind their keyboards, the trolls, the bullies, toxic people who love to create drama that break friendships or groups. What happened to simply agreeing to disagree about something? Or just being kind and respectful of other people’s opinions? Or be open enough and willing to see another person’s point of view without forcing your own point of view onto others?

When I joined TikTok in June 2022, TikTok was still a great app, then in 2023, TikTok went down hill big time as more people were doing battles by then and people opted to give up their jobs to make a living doing battles because it’s easy money, all you need is big gifters to support your battles. There’s now more bullies and keyboard warrior’s who hide behind faceless profile pictures on burner accounts. Toxic people are on the rise as well on the app.

One of the things that makes me always laugh though is how many people want tons of followers because they think that having a large number of followers makes them look popular. They post nothing, they follow no one, they aren’t known people, they contribute nothing in making the world a better place to live or contribute to making people’s lives better, they just want followers for clout in feeding their own ego’s all because they think that having a large number of followers makes them look impressive as a status symbol.

One thing for me about social media, I have never been about how many friends I have on Facebook or how many followers I can get on any of my socials. I don’t even follow everyone back who follows me. I don’t accept all the friends requests I receive on Facebook either, well the legitimate friend requests mainly, not the scammers or fakes as I remove them automatically. I have never been about winning any kind of popularity contest and never will. I’m about quality over quantity and making genuine connections with people. Even when people unfriend me on Facebook or decide to unfollow me, my attitude is “it’s their loss”. I simply don’t have an ego, I don’t do drama, I don’t do fake friends, I don’t do toxicity (okay, we can all exhibit toxic traits but if someone is totally toxic in how they interact and engage with people, I’m definitely out as I have absolutely no time for toxic people). If someone unfollows me, I will unfollow right back. I do have my boundaries that I will not compromise on.

There are people I have made true friendships with on the socials and those people are on my Facebook. Facebook is my inner sanctum as that is where I share parts of my life I don’t share anywhere else. It’s where I have my family and my real life friends and if a social media friend makes it into my Facebook feed, then they know they are family and I trust that person just as they trust me when they share parts of their life.

I’m a big believer though of the age old adage of don’t post on social media anything you don’t want the world to see. That works for me as I’m never going to post anything that I don’t want to share with the world because once it’s on social media, you can delete a post but somewhere on the internet, that post will still remain.

I love social media for not only connecting with people from around the world but I also love it for finding out what is happening in the world. I enjoy social media and finding some sleep sounds, quiet music or watch something relaxing on nights when I am unable to fall asleep. Social media has it’s advantages along with its disadvantages.

Whether you’re on social media yourself or not someone who does social media, whether you like social media or not, it is definitely something that will be staying around for a long time to come.

I’m kayezee71 on all my socials, maybe I’ll see you all soon somewhere in Social Media Land sometime soon, you never know.

Until next time

Kaye

Moving with the times…

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As a Generation X, I grew up not having a mobile (cell) phone as they didn’t exist then.

Our social networking was sending hand written letters and cards in the mail, or using a manual type writer to type a letter to someone. We actually went over to a friend’s house or called them on a landline rotary or push button phone to talk to them. We bumped into people we knew while out shopping or in the street and we stopped and talked with them.

As the late 1980’s came, so did mobile phones, which weren’t what we have now… these phones had huge handsets and the battery for the phone was carried separately in its own shoulder bag.

Not everyone had a mobile phone then either, only the YUPPIES (Young Urban Professionals), business executives or trades people had them.

Computers too only came into main use in the late 1980’s… remember the big monitors and hard drives? The floppy disks were huge as well. The printers would use a style of their own, dot matrix.

Time has definitely changed things with technology. Same with social media.

I love how technology has changed. Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy looking at the new technology available and what is possible for the future. I also enjoy social media as well.

I know there’s a lot of social media platforms available and I use several of them – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok in particular.

I’ve only just got onto Tiktok as I thought it was just for teenagers who want to show of new dance moves in videos that have gone viral but I’ve realised that it’s more than that.

What I love about Twitter and Tiktok is the learning about other countries and the connection with other people from around the world, especially during the lives on Tiktok.

I have made some good friends on Twitter who are now my friends on Facebook and I’m making friends on Tiktok as well. I love how social media makes a world seem like a smaller place to live. I also enjoy how you can chat online with people around the world in real time and it can be morning, afternoon, evening or night time.

During the covid-19 pandemic that swept the world, with people having to isolate or be in quarantine, technology played a bigger part in our lives, as did social media.

With offices and buildings closing or reducing staff numbers in an effort to stop the spread of the covid-19 virus, we learned how to work from home. Education, normally done in the classroom was done online. Church services started going online too for many churches, there was more online buying, cash wasn’t being accepted by most places and became cashless as long as you had a plastic card from your bank or credit union to use.

Meetings were done by Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams during the covid-19 pandemic. Friends socialised on the social media platforms because of the restrictions for how many people were allowed in the home.

As far back as 2019, before we had even heard the word coronavirus or covid-19, there were those who would be saying that technology and social media were keeping people isolated from others and how bad technology and social media is.

With the covid-19 pandemic, it was technology and social media that was keeping people in contact with each other, so we learned that yes, technology and social media can be our friend and can keep people together, talking to each other, keeping people connected.

I’m excited to see how technology changes for the future and what social media platforms will become the next big thing.

For me, my Facebook is for people who know me in real life and for those I’ve gotten to know over time through talking with them through social media.

For Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok, you can find me by my username kayezee71.

Until next time

Kaye