My Social Media Profile...Profile
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| Twitter/X Profile Personal Photo |
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| Instagram Profile Personal Photo |
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| Facebook Profile Personal photo |
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| LinkedIn Profile Personal Photo |
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| Snapchat Profile Personal Photo |
For those finding this blog for the very first time, hi! I'm Adam Blazek, and I'm currently a 7th-grade language arts and social studies teacher, getting ready to wrap up year number 10 in the classroom. But other than my bios on X and LinkedIn, it might be hard to find much about me on the social media accounts pictured above, other than my photos. Not a single one of them is less than four years old...and yet, there have been A LOT of photographable moments in the last four years of my life, pandemic or no pandemic. I have...
- Gotten married (to be fair, my now-wife is in multiple profile pictures, although none of them were taken even after our engagement, let alone our wedding)
- Gone on a honeymoon
- Gotten a dog, who my wife and I are absolutely obsessed with
- Moved into a new house
- Finished a Master's degree (and am almost done with a second)
- Taken several very fun trips with family and friends
- And, to top it off, my wife and I are expecting our first child in the next month
And yet, the profile pictures remain un-updated, frozen from pre-pandemic times (not that there is any coincidence in that at all). My biggest takeaway from that fact is that my relationship with social media has, more than anything, waned as time has gone on. I can remember the early excitement joining some of the apps-especially Facebook, when it was still an 'invite-only' platform, and how I would regularly post updates on my daily activities, cheesy song lyrics, or whatever I felt (anyone else remember the 'status'?). That was a natural progression from MySpace, which I think was the first social media platform I joined-honestly, thinking back to tinkering with different profile layouts, getting to choose a new profile song, it does come with a little bit of nostalgia. But back then, the things I would say I paid attention to were often the 'numbers' associated with social media-Am I in this person's top ___ friends? How many likes did my status update get? How many friends do I have (regardless of if I really interact with that person at all in my face-to-face life)? And I honestly feel like I got a little burned out by it as time went on because, I guess for lack of a better way of putting it, I just didn't put as much stock into what people were posting, especially as time went on and I felt like my Facebook and Twitter/X feeds were flooded by politically-charged propaganda. Scrolling through 'news' stories where facts are twisted or hatred is spread...just not something I'm here for. Cute dog videos...very much here for. But I felt like at times I couldn't get enough of one to make up for the other.
I've also shied away, I feel, because I've tried to prioritize experience and conversation as much as possible, I feel especially since the pandemic, when those were things that we didn't get to experience as much. For example, on my honeymoon, I didn't take my phone out during a single excursion my wife and I went on, because I didn't want to miss a moment looking at things through my phone. I get turned off when I'm having a conversation with someone who is scrolling through their feeds, and I feel like social media has a lot to do with that. Disclaimer-this is 100% not meant to be a soapbox moment-just my own point of view. And yes, I do realize it can come off as curmudgeonly.
That being said, I do think social media has a lot of power for good. It does keep people connected across great times and distances-there are a lot of people who I get life updates from solely because we are still friends on Facebook. When I'm looking for breaking news or reactions to something newsworthy, it is still X that I can usually find something that I am looking for. In my quest to improve my culinary skills, I've found a handful of Instagram accounts whose recipe videos I regularly save to try in my own kitchen. Having that visual of how a dish should look without having to scroll through 1,000 words of drivel (anyone who has tried finding recipes online will know exactly what I mean)-I am VERY thankful for that. Instagram is also where I've found a couple of health/fitness accounts whose workouts I like to use when I go to the gym. Plus, no better place for cute dog videos than Instagram. And then there's Snapchat, which is where I go to send videos of my dog, but pretty much just to my wife and family. I haven't yet joined TikTok, but my wife is on it regularly and shares enough with me that I feel I've gotten a taste of what it has to offer as well. I've also found some great resources on both X and Instagram for ideas for new parents, or for things to use in my classroom, or when digging for new book recommendations. I have an old Goodreads account that I do mean to update, but I just haven't quite gotten around to it, even though some of my closest friends use it regularly. I guess, in essence, my relationship with social media has transitioned away from a producer, and really just into my being a selective consumer, treating it not as a source of connection, but really mostly as a source of information (and dog videos).
And since I brought it up multiple times...I feel as though I owe all who made it to the end...(our dog, Moose)
Moose (@meetmrmoose_the_berner). Video of Moose. Instagram. 27 July 2022. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cgh91nYD8Lu/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
Great to 'see' you again, Adam! Goodness. Reading your bulleted list it's understandable why your profile pictures haven't changed! This is the beauty of social media. It remains available when it's convenient for YOU, not vice-versa. I admire the fact that you were able to leave your phone during your honeymoon. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm closer than I was a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteHi Adam,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that my use of social media has waned over time. I didn’t post much to begin with due to my not wanting to post due to my mood or having anything to say. When I first started interacting with the internet, Myspace started going out of use. I don’t think I ever cared about the number of followers, but I get a bit of amusement when one of my posts goes semi-viral. I tend to miss a majority of viral hatred because I follow the majority of animal and crafting blogs. I couldn’t have my phone on me, but it was more of a safety issue due to a family member having medical issues that I needed to be in contact with. Even then, I only looked at social media in chunks because one job stated that we couldn’t use our phones on the floor, and the other was that I was busy with patrons and school homework. Cute Dog, mine doesn’t sit still long enough to take a picture. We think she might be a black mouth cur, but we are not positive as she was supposed to be a temporary house guest and came without paperwork.
I too remember my time joining social media for the first time, which was Myspace, years after friends had joined. I still remember the first comment I got on my page, which was "About time". I remember being on someone's top friend's list was a status symbol, and when Myspace added a top ten, everyone still pushed to be in the top 5 of someone's list. Oh, the nostalgia! I also feel the same way you do regarding the negative news articles/posts posted on social media, which is a main deterrent for me to stay away and only use it on occasion. Your dog is so fluffy!
ReplyDelete