SOCIAL MEDIA SUPER STAR IN THE WINGS

via newslocker.com

News reports about social media and the ‘new awareness’ we all need to observe will never keep grandma from posting new baby pictures.

ButI think I get the point of the warning.

From my census training I learned how to gather visual evidence at the door if a citizen didn’t want to interact with what they saw as a ‘government agent’ or ‘agent of the government.’ I didn’t tell them I lived a mile away, that it was seasonal work, that I wasn’t a hardened G-Man from the company.

If they saw me through a lens other than a guy doing a job, fine.

I’ve had a similar feeling about American values being hijacked by social media, that facebook, twitter, instagram, and youtube as fertile fields to harvest data and direct the national dialogue. Are they fertile?

Consider how often you’re prompted to add more details to your profile on any platform. “Let your friends and followers know more about you,” they say.

Maybe you’ve said enough already, but why not add more? The current level of sharing is don’t post anything you don’t want blasted around the world and seen by everyone.

Like that’s a bad thing?

How many SEO people charge tons of money to get contented shared around the world and seen by everyone? That’s the goal, but the world doesn’t care about every post, video, or tweet. Ask a blogger how many people care about them, how many facebook friends, how many twitter followers?

From the world I know, people are busy. Some are busy reading weak takes and being offended; some are producing weak content that reach a certain target audience.

If you’re susceptible to suggestion from unknown sources, an online life might not be a good choice of where to spend time. If you’ve ever had your opinion changed from an idea you saw once with no attribution, ask for help.

And if you’re working to change opinion based on faulty intentions, don’t be surprised if things get turned on you.