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October 4, 2011 By Erik Deckers

People Who Don’t Use Social Media Shouldn’t Dismiss Social Media

“I don’t use social media because I don’t want to tell people what I had for breakfast,” declare social media haters.

“I don’t use Facebook because I don’t care enough about the minutiae of other people’s lives to bother reading it,” they say with the dismissive snottiness of people who refuse to own a TV.

I’m always annoyed by people who just outright dismiss social media as a place where people talk about breakfast, bathroom habits, and life’s inanities, despite the fact that they have never used it.

I read a recent article — Academics and Colleges Split Their Personalities for Social Media — where several commenters proudly crowed about their dislike for social media, and declared it inane and useless. (Hat tip to my friend Anthony Juliano for a great response.)

One of the comments by “transparentopaque” caught Anthony’s and my attention:

I do not have a Facebook or Twitter account. So, I have nothing to worry about. I have yet to figure out what anybody could possibly have to say via Twitter that I absolutely need to read. Is anyone’s life really that interesting? Yes, but only those people who do not waste their time posting on social media networks. Life is happening, and many people today are wasting it away talking about it. Instead of living in the moment, people are analyzing every aspect of their life to determine its suitability as a Facebook status update.

I’ve determined that it isn’t really the “sharing” that drives people to social media, it is the sense that they have a captive audience. But that is only an illusion. Few people participate in order to read what others have to say; they participate in order to have a forum in which they can hear themselves speak. Narcissism has finally found its place in this world.

The problem with “transparentopaque’s” attitude and practice is that as someone who does not use social media, he/she has no way of knowing how other people are using it.

We see this with business owners all the time. “Our customers don’t use social media.” But they have no way of knowing this for certain, since they never use it.

It’s like saying “no one visits that restaurant because I’ve never been there.”

And yes, I was struck by the irony of someone asking whether anyone’s life is interesting, and then declaring social media to be “a forum in which they can hear themselves speak,” in the comments section of a website — another form of social networking.

I always get agitated by people who say they’ll never do something, eat something, watch something, or participate in something without ever having tried it. (Although to be fair, I won’t eat mussels after reading Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. And yes, I have eaten them before. But if the guy who has an entire TV show about eating nearly anything on the planet won’t eat them, it’s probably a good idea to avoid them.)

If you don’t try something, how do you know you won’t like it. If you don’t use Twitter or Facebook, how do you know what people are using it for?

Of course, there are always those people who say “I don’t need to try heroin to know it’s bad for me.”

True, but Facebook isn’t heroin. One is an addictive experience that will open up new worlds to you while at the same time isolating you from friends and family, and the other is an illegal narcotic.

But unless you’ve tried Facebook or Twitter for a while (at least a month, for 20 minutes a day), you don’t know enough about it to dismiss it without looking like a myopic, close-minded curmudgeon who still thinks TV is a passing fad.

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Filed Under: Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks, Twitter Tagged With: Facebook, Social Media, Twitter

About Erik Deckers

Erik Deckers is the President of Pro Blog Service, a content marketing and social media marketing agency He co-authored four social media books, including No Bullshit Social Media with Jason Falls (2011, Que Biz-Tech), and Branding Yourself with Kyle Lacy (3rd ed., 2017, Que Biz-Tech), and The Owned Media Doctrine (2013, Archway Publishing). Erik has written a weekly newspaper humor column for 10 papers around Indiana since 1995. He was also the Spring 2016 writer-in-residence at the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, FL.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    March 2, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    Um, you literally just described Facebook AS heroin in the 2nd to last paragraph…..

    • Erik Deckers says

      March 2, 2012 at 2:15 pm

      Dear anonymous person,

      That was a joke.

      It’s like the joke, what’s the difference between a soccer mom and a pit bull?

      One is a terrifying beast that frightens old people and children, and the other is a dog.

      Also, it was figurative, not literal.

  2. Rozer Art says

    October 31, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Using the social networks is like the creations of design. You are adding some elements to your design and if you like it everything is fine, if not you are removing it. Twitter and Facebook have almost a billion members, but they don’t talk just about their breakfast. Social network is power.

  3. Steven says

    October 26, 2011 at 12:31 am

    I do notice a lot of people who wants to talk and share a lot of things in social media sites. I think there is nothing wrong with it and I feel the process can be a good reliever and fulfillment. I enjoy reading the posts and watching the shared videos. I am actually grateful for the share. I know a lot of people who has shown negativity towards these sites but ended up liking it once tried. It is an experience that everyone should have.

  4. Anonymous says

    October 20, 2011 at 6:09 am

    I gave it a go, and realized quickly what an epic waste of time it was. Any true friends will take the time to pickup the phone or meet you in person not talk through a computer screen about meaningless crap. I’d be quite happy if it was banned tomorrow and people get back to living life in the real world.

  5. Alicia Aiello says

    October 5, 2011 at 6:25 pm

    This post holds so much weight for me. Especially since I am studying Social Media in #NewhouseSM4 with @DR4WARD. I am a student at Syracuse University and we are learning multiple social media platforms, how to connect with people for professional AND personal reasons and how to create a good and active web presence. I have been one to say “Ew, Foursquare?…that doesn’t sound creepy at all…” But now am an avid Foursquare user. I agree, you cannot criticize Social Media without testing it out for yourself. The ways we connect are changing and I am starting to think that those who have those attitudes are just unwilling to realize that the future is now. Social media is how we connect.

  6. Andy Welfle says

    October 5, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    Hoo boy, what did Anthony Bourdain say about mussels? I hope I don’t have to stop eating them now, too.

    • Erik Deckers says

      October 18, 2011 at 7:53 am

      Basically, he said he wouldn’t eat them because they just sat in their own piss while they waited to be cooked. That was more than enough for me.

  7. Colby Keeler says

    October 5, 2011 at 7:05 am

    There are some additional underlying concerns when people dismiss things they have not tried; especially when their opinion is based on the “word on the street.” My dad used to tell me that there are two kinds of people (he was referring to work); there are people who want the title and are willing to do the work and there are people who don’t want to do the work but think they deserve the title. Concerning social media, there seems to be a similar mindset.

    It’s impossible to have a valuable opinion about something unless you’ve strapped on your boots and dug in; even if just for a little while. You can’t speak for yourself unless you can think for yourself.

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