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Defining Social Me(dia)

full disclosure here:  i’m fairly new to this social media thing.  i was in the resistance…part of the Rebellion fighting against the Empire…a lone wolf in a forest of…well, you get the picture. 

needless to say, i’ve been converted, and can now be found on Eff-Book, blogspot, twitter (@raybacon), linkedin, flickr, etc. etc.

in my limited exposure to “social media” one thing has become clear…there is nothing social about it.  sure, there are lots of folks on it…but they’re all standing on these self-constructed soapboxes yelling at each other. 

not only that, i’ve found a few major trends, and i feel moving forward, these people and threads should be classified as such:

Hey, Look at Me(dia)- when you tweet that you’re at a bar with your friends, heading out to pick apples with the fam, or sitting in section 245 at the ballgame, you’re bragging.  there is the little voice that says, “hey, i could have friends here doing the same things and this way they’ll know what i’m doing!”  but lets face it:  you’re making sure everyone who’s at home, sitting on their butts, doing lame stuff knows you’re not.  this also works when you post very vague, slightly worrisome things like, “i’ve had enough” or “people just make me mad”.  you might as well just say, “will someone please ask me what’s on my mind?”

Woe is Me(dia)- “i’m so exhausted…life is so hard…my life sux…blah blah blah.”  seriously, i don’t know if it’s just my friends or what…but by their posts you’d think people were working 25-hour days and trying to feed 15 kids, all under the age of 12.  listen, something bad happens…something really bad…then let us know.  if you’re just tired because you worked all day…no one cares because guess what, so is everyone else.

Follow Me(dia)- i think it’s awesome that you make $500-a-day tweeting from your parents basement…but i’m still not gonna be your friend.  and if you have a real cause you want me to follow or support, pick up a phone or shoot me an email because most of the random crap you’re “inviting” me to support is nonsense.  This could also be called “Support Me(dia)” or “Play with Me(dia)”.

No One is Cooler than Me(dia) – this is where i fall in most of the time…the obsessive behavior to re-post, re-tweet, share, promote or blog about the latest and greatest…whatever the latest and greatest may be.  this also includes the reverse…dropping the “yeah, posted that last week” comment.  you don’t rub it in their face…but you close your office door and hi-five yourself.

There must be others…these are just my observations, er, rants….what are yours?