The Deletist

I have a very social group of friends.  Every time one of us plans an outing, it always has to be done through email, or maybe text messaging.  The end result is a lot of email threads and random discussion.  If I’m unable to attend the event being planned, I must ignore the emails piling up in my inbox as final details are discussed.  No option exists to remove myself from the conversation.

Social media seems like it should be a great way to make plans, but it doesn’t stand up to other more reliable forms, unless all of your contacts happen to be using the same type of social media and check it regularly.  Inevitably at least one important guest refuses to be on Facebook, or is only on Twitter and everybody else is on Google +.  This is similar to the challenges raised in an earlier post on Fragmented Discourse when making plans.  With more options than ever for communication, why does it still feel so complicated and fragmented sometimes?

With email, it is really easy to add another person to the thread.  You simply add their email address and hit send.  In most cases with social media, however, an additional step is added to the process by requiring you and the recipient to be connected in some way (friend, follow, link, connect, etc.) before making contact.

The benefit of an email address or phone number is that they are all compatible with each other.  It doesn’t matter if I’m thedeletist@gmail or @hotmail or @yahoo, they can all communicate with one another.  The same is true for phone numbers.  The style of phone or carrier doesn’t matter, only the digits, which can be used for calling or texting.

Can the same standard be replicated with social media?  Do we need so many different ways to be contacted and contact others?

I think it’s a little bit crazy that I can be contacted through snail mail, email (multiple accounts), phone (calls & text), and 3 separate social media applications.  I do realize I can invest in some sort of dashboard application to manage everything more effectively, but maybe I should just try to manage less and eliminate some of my accounts.

Would you, or do you, prefer to use social media over email to make plans?

Usually when somebody mentions vampires, people picture an undead bloodsucking creature, who can’t be exposed to sunlight.  I’m talking about real vampires, not the ones from Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series who sparkle in sunlight and survive by sucking the blood out of animals.   Something more like this:

When I think of modern day vampires, my definition includes anybody with whom I have an interaction that leaves me feeling drained, tired, or lifeless.  This includes electronic interactions. Social media has given rise to a whole new subspecies of vampires, the digital bloodsuckers. Social vamps subsist on the social media life force.  And thanks to mobile devices, it can happen anytime, anywhere.

The #YOLO Vampire

This type of vampire lives for doing silly, reckless actions that can later be posted onto any number of social media sites with the ubiquitous #yolo.  That way everybody knows it’s the kind of thing you do because well, “you only live once,” and somehow that makes it ok.

Performing the actions requires the vampire to put endless amounts of social pressure onto his peers to do something cool, zany, silly or outrageous in the hopes of getting a few likes and retweets for the post.  The kind of pressure that ends up draining people because deep down it’s really about trying to connect with other humans, rather than getting noticed for doing something outrageous.

 

The #FOMO Vampire*

This vamp sits around every night trolling various social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) just to make sure he’s not missing out on anything cool posted by his connections. Consequently, because so much of his time is spent reading about other people instead of actually living, he makes asinine posts that clog up other people’s feeds.  Postings about how good almonds are, the weird cornflake shaped like Jesus, and his various mood swings.

The reach of the #FOMO Vampire might not be via a personal, human interaction, but it’s still about feeding off of your energy.

Do you encounter vampires in your social media interactions?  Cast your vote!

Note: The drawings are part of The Anger Management Deck.  To find out more about this unique product click here.  You can also check out my first Flex Slider!

*FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out