Is social media ruining your social game?

by Meghan Quinn

I cannot tell you how many times a fellow classmate has favored or retweeted one of my tweets, or liked one of my posts on the ever so famous social networking picture site, Instagram. Likes, retweets, and favors feel good, but what doesn’t feel so good is when the person that does this liking, retweeting, and favoring online, ignores you in person. I can’t tell you that I am not guilty of it, because I  subconsciously like pictures on Instagram, and favor tweets on Twitter without actually talking to that person, but lately I’ve been thinking about how this is ruining our face to face social game. There is nothing more awkward than passing by your fellow twitter follower in the hall and looking over at them for a hello, but only making awkward eye contact. This begs the question; if you can follow me on social media, and favor, or retweet me, why can’t you say a simple hello?

While these social media sites are great for networking, and chatting with your friends, there isn’t really a real connection. What ever happened to picking up the phone and calling your friend to hangout? Now a days, that’s deemed “uncomfortable” and “awkward” to do. In all honesty if someone calls me that isn’t above the age of 30 I get a little weirded out. I don’t really know why, but maybe it just isn’t in our culture to pick up the phone and chat.

What is in our culture is our ever so infamous misinterpretations of basically everything from last night’s math homework, to this morning’s Twitter feed. Social media leads to all kinds of misinterpretations. These misinterpretations of tweets lead fellow followers, and even friends, to believe that they are being “subtweeted,” a term meaning you have indirectly tweeted about another person without tagging their name. Weird right? This leads to all other kinds of subtweeting, and Twitter fights on display for the whole Twitter universe to see and gawk at. I know, it’s really easy to pull up a chair and some popcorn and watch the action unfold, maybe even giggle with your friends; but really, is it doing anything for you?

Another thing that doesn’t help you is not being 100% in the moment all the time. By using social media we are neglecting to live in the moment. Put down that phone and enjoy where you are and who you’re with. Social media almost makes it easy to show boat how much of a super awesome time you are having. We all know those people. Yes, if you don’t, then it is in fact you my friend; so put down your phone and live in the present. On the other hand, social media is a way for you to feel more comfortable with your surroundings; if you’re feeling awkward whip out that phone and check out a few tweets, or pictures.  Yet, this gives you an excuse to not talk to the people around you; hence, bettering my point, you’re losing your social game my friends.

Who can have social game without some good old self esteem? Social media can either make or break your confidence. To single out one site, Instagram; I believe this is the more common site to do this on. Daily on my Instagram feed I see about a handful of “selfies”; a photo taken by that person, of that person; why post a picture if you don’t want it to get likes? Getting likes on Instagram and even Facebook is a good thing. Why? Because it means people either A, like you, or B, like how you look. This leaves us seeking out the approval of others, and we might not even realize that is what we are doing. Imagine what a blow to your ego it would be if you posted a selfie and nobody liked it? So, if nobody likes your selfie, does that mean nobody likes you? Of course not, but hey, it can set your social confidence back a bit. Although, Instagram is a site to express your individuality or even your artistic side, so don’t swear it off just yet. But, are you really getting your pictures out there, after all they’re just stuck on some social site in cyberspace, not real life.

 I hate to break it to you but, yes, people still do talk face to face, and yes eye contact is indeed involved.   Scary, huh? Just imagine when you’re all in college and need to talk to your professor; how on earth will you do that? I bet some of you are going, “what, I have to talk to them…why….” oh you do, and that time is coming soon. Now, take a step back, reevaluate everything you have ever thought social media was, and now answer the question; is it ruining your face to face, human interaction? Is social media ruining your social game?

Did anyone like my photo? How many retweets do I have? photo by Meghan Quinn